A New Beginning
by orchids787
Summary: Follow a female Fujiwara Hikaru as she moves to Japan and goes to school, make friends, and enters the Go world.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: The usual kind of disclaimer…I don't own any of the "Hikaru no Go" characters.

This story's plot will overlap with the manga's, thought there would be slight changes here and there. Some of the changes include Hikaru and Sai being siblings, Hikaru staying with the Toya's, and much more.

* * *

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 1 - Prologue**

Hikaru wasn't sure how to react to the current turn of events.

How did this even happen? Oh, yeah, it was all Sai-nii's fault! She was already 12 years old and knew how to take care of herself so there was really no need for her to be here. She could have stayed at a hotel or even in an apartment by herself; her brother really was a worrywart.

"…ru Hikaru?"

Pushing images of strangling her brother aside, Hikaru snapped back to attention.

"Toya-sa…I mean Uncle Koyo?"

She had remembered that the Japanese called each other by their last name and added a "-san" to it as a form of respect. However, as soon as Sai-nii had introduced them, he had insisted on her calling him "Uncle Koyo" and saying how her father and he had been friends before her dad had moved to America. She barely had any memories of her parents, let alone of one of their friends from Japan. However, they must have been pretty close since her brother trusted the man so much as to let him be her temporary guardian.

While she had been spacing out, Uncle Koyo had been looking at her with a worried expression while his wife and son were looking at her curiously.

"Hikaru, you probably don't remember them but this is my wife, your Aunt Akiko and this is my son Akira". Hikaru nodded at each introduction and with a smile greeted "Aunt Akiko" and "Akira" while subtly checking out her new surroundings.

Hikaru couldn't help but be a little curious about this new place; having grown up in America, besides in pictures, she had never really seen a house like the Toya's. Everything exuded an aura of "tradition" from the elder Toya's clothes to the house itself. _I mean, for goodness sake, the doors slided!_ _Sai-nii would definitely get a kick out of this_, thought Hikaru. Actually, she could even imagine her brother sliding the doors back and forth, back and forth while exclaiming how marvelous it all was. Hikaru just shook her head, sometimes her brother acted like such a kid and he was 13 years older than her!

"Hikaru-chan you have grown so much since the last time I have seen you. And you must be so tired from having been on the plane for so many hours. Here, Akira can you take this to Hikaru-chan's room?" said Aunt Akiko while passing the luggage to her son and would have grabbed the smaller bag that Hikaru was holding if she had not insisted that she could do it herself.

* * *

"To our left is the living room and the kitchen is down the hallway. The bedrooms are upstairs. I hope you like your bedroom, and if you don't like anything just let me know." And with that, Aunt Akiko slid the door open to her new bedroom.

Hikaru's jaw almost dropped open. It wasn't the fact that there was no bed in the room; she had guessed correctly that she would most likely be using a futon, but what surprised her were the girly decorations along the room. Smack in the middle of the room, her futon was already out and on top of it there was a pink sakura pattern cover to keep her warm, new looking small stuff animals were lined next to her pillow. The closet was on the left side of the room, a window in front of the futon covered with frilly curtains. And on the right side of the room, frilly looking cushions were scattered around a short vanity table and lacey looking cloth covered a short mini-table with a mini-lamp on top of it.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Hikaru notice Aunt Akiko looking at her anxiously. "I wasn't sure if we should get you a bed or not. Sai-kun had mentioned that you were ok with a futon and we can always change anything you don't like…so"

"No, no this is fine. It all looks so..." Hikaru struggled to find a word to describe the room without insulting her host. Her room in America was more tomboyish than girly, and if she took a closer look, it wasn't that bad. At least the room wasn't all pink colored; there was some lavender, sunshine yellow, white and even light blue.

Hikaru finished with "…looks so amazing" and got a bright smile in return from her host.

"Good, I am glad you like it."

After Hikaru had assured her that she didn't need any help unpacking, both mother and son left her alone reminding her that they would be downstairs should she need any help.

* * *

Blinking once and then twice, Hikaru tried to focus. She had fallen sleep and had woken up to darkness. Turning around, she squinted when she thought she saw a small light flicking in and out. With a gasp, Hikaru set upright and stared in wonder at the universe in front of her. On what she had earlier assumed where just white paper doors leading to a closet, lines and various shapes were glowing brightly on its surface. Reverently, Hikaru traced each planet and each star that was depicted on the white screen.

Memories of a long time ago flashed in front of her eyes. _A small pig-tailed little girl set on the lap of a long-haired young teenager. Big hands were holding her much smaller ones and tried to teach her how to hold the stones properly. After trying unsuccessfully, said teenager gave up and dropped a kiss on top of the little girl's head. With a mischievous grin, the little girl turned around and slapped the goban in front of her saying "…star…star". With a surprised expression, the teenager answered, "Yes, do you see it Hime-chan? Can you see it? Here is a planet and here a star and…"_

Blinking away tears, Hikaru came back to the present. The glow-in the dark mini-universe was probably made by Sai-nii in an effort to cheer her up and as a bribe to allow him back into her good graces. They had originally made plans to move to Japan next summer, but then all of sudden he announced that she would be going ahead by herself first; she had been extremely upset with him. She had come up with various reasons to explain to him why it did not make sense to send her to Japan without him:

1. There was really no point to going to Japan a year ahead. It would make more sense for her to finish primary school in the US and then start middle school in Japan. His response was that he wanted her to have an extra year to get familiar with a Japanese school before she started middle school.

2. Her next idea was _The silent treatment_. Although to be truthful, it didn't last very long, only a day; _who could stay silent when you had a 25 years old man clinging onto you while crying a river of tears asking you "To please say something! To yell at him, call him stupid or an idiot, but to never never never stop speaking to him_"

3. She refused to eat or drink anything, and once again it didn't last very long either, just a day and a half. His solution? Not only did her brother do the same, but he also neglected going to work and all he did for that day and a half was sit outside her bedroom door and ask her to eat or drink something every hour.

4. Convince him that having her out of his sight was not a good idea. After all, she would soon turn 13 years old and thus fast approaching what experts called the "adolescence stage" a.k.a. the rebellious ages; when she streaked some of her dark hair blond, his reaction was _"Oh, that's so pretty. How come I never though about that?" _Next, she skipped school and hung out in a park for a day; when the teacher called him, instead of getting mad, Sai-nii actually freaked out and had the police searching for her thinking she had been kidnapped, had an accident, was dying somewhere on the streets by herself and a bunch of more insane ideas. She had seen him before he had spotted her and the sheer look of _**fear**_and _**desperation**_ on his face before turning to relive upon spotting her still closed her throat up and brought a severe ache to her heart. Thus, the result of Idea 4 had ruled out Idea 5 and any other ideas she might have come up with.

She finally gave in after that and here she was. Actually, she gave in when she realized that small part in her heart that had feared that Sai-nii didn't love her anymore and had just wanted to get rid of her by sending her to Japan was one of the most stupidest beliefs she could ever come up with.

* * *

**A couple of weeks later….**

Akira wasn't sure how to react or think; Fujiwara Hikaru was an anomaly in so many different ways. Out of the blue his father and mother had informed him that the daughter of one of his father's friend would be staying with them for a while. His mother had seemed excited at the prospect of having another child and a girl in particular to fuss over. Both his parents didn't say exactly why she was going to stay, although from their tone he perceived that it was due to some grave circumstance so he didn't ask much. The only thing they had asked of Akira was to be nice to the girl and to treat her as if she was his little sister which was why he was expecting someone much younger and different from Hikaru.

She was Japanese but not Japanese; she had a Japanese name, Fujiwara Hikaru and spoke flawless Japanese. Her features were Asian but her green eyes and blond highlights say otherwise. He had seen some of his classmates dye their hair different colors, so the blond color did not surprise him too much but never before had he seen that shade of green eyes. It was true that she could be wearing contacts, but that shade of green was too real to be a man-made product. He wanted to ask, but then it would be very rude. And Akira strived to _**never**_ be rude.

"Fujiwara…Fujiwara Hikaru!", their Classic Japanese Literature sensei sounded very exasperated since the same student kept falling sleep in his class.

A partially blond head looked up and the classmate behind her whispered _"passage on page 32"._

Book in hand, she stood up and read the passage in flawless Japanese, and even before the sensei could ask for an in-depth explanation, she had launched into it… "…and thus this passage can be said to summarize what this whole story is about. Many would claim the hero was an exceptional man, but in my opinion"… heads whirled to the front to see the sensei's reaction.

Fujiwara seemed to have a knack for riling up Amano sensei, whom many of the students found amazing and brave on her part since almost the whole class feared him. She not only fell sleep in class from time to time, and woke up able to answer any and all his questions perfectly, which to the eternal amusement of her classmates, her actions only seemed to increase the twitch on the sensei's left eye. To top it off, she would end a flawless analysis with an opinion that would be nothing but the truth but will somehow end up being an affront to whatever "piece of art" Amino sensei was teaching.

"… he was not that different from any other man. The only difference was that he was born of high-rank so any of his accomplishment would be magnify, and to top it off, he wasn't really as honorable as everyone claimed. Didn't the guy slept with more than half the women in his era? True, sometimes he was the one being seduced, but he still could have said 'No'."

Ticking each finger off as she went, "He didn't married any of them. He didn't love any of them and never even bothered thinking about them after he left them. In conclusion, that shows a not so honorable man".

Before Amano-sensei could respond to Fujiwara's latest opinion, the bell had to ring. Groans could be heard around the whole classroom; they all found the interactions between Amano sensei and one of their own classmate pretty fascinating. It wasn't everyday that one of their own could stand up to the much-feared sensei.

"We would continued next time. Class dismissed." The rest of the class stood up and bowed to the sensei as he left the room.

"Fujiwara that was amazing"…"Hikaru-chan were you really sleep?"…"Are you really from the US? How do you keep up with it?"… "I read it yesterday but it all seemed so complicated"… "…and boring"… "Want to eat lunch outside?'

Akira could not help but shake his head. His mother had been worried about Hikaru keeping up in school and fitting in during the last year of primary school. Not only was she able to keep up in her classes, but was in the top of them and thanks to her outgoing personality, in contrast to Akira's, had already made a lot of friends.

"..ira… Akira! Earth to Akira". Before Akira could respond, his arm was firmly grasped and he couldn't help but follow her as Hikaru pulled him along, there was no point in resisting. From all the chattering around them, it seemed that most of the class was going to eat lunch outside again. Akira would have preferred to read a book quietly in the room, but Hikaru had said, "You can always read outside. And it is more fun to eat with more people."

* * *

"Hey Akira, do you have time to stop by this new café? Momo's sister works there and some of us are going to go". Akira shook his head and reminded Hikaru once again that he was heading to his father's Go salon since he had some teaching-games scheduled with some customers.

"Oh, if I find anything good, I bring you some. Where was the Go-Salon located again?"

"It was a good game. But next time, if you are in this same situation, you should place your stone here and then here. This way, you would be able to stop your opponent from capturing this stones."

"Oh, I see. Thanks sensei."

"That's sensei for you and to think you aren't in middle school yet", another customer added.

Before anyway could ask him for another game, Akira headed to the front of the salon to ask Ishikawa-san for some tea.

"I told you already. I am not here for a game, I don't know how strong I am and I am looking for…Oh Akira, there you are".

After introducing Hikaru to Ishikawa-san, Hikaru had settled down and after watching him play one more Shidou-game, Akira asked her if she wanted to play.

At first she had declined, but gave in after much encouragement from many of the customers who had surrounded them upon Hikaru's arrival.

"I know how to play so I don't need any stones! Besides, we are the same age!", Hikaru had exclaimed with a bit of outrage when Akira had asked her to place as many stones as she needed on the goban. Many of the customers chuckled good naturally at the young lady thinking she didn't know that Akira's strength was at a pro's level.

Unbeknownst to all, a surprise awaited them


	2. Whos is He or She?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the "Hikaru no Go" characters**

**And this is the same same chapter as the previous one. I accidently clicked delete and am now re-uploading it. Sorry!**

* * *

**Ch 2 - Who is S/He?**

"Although I haven't played for a while, I still know how to play so I don't need any handicap. And we are the same age, too!"

Oh, Akira didn't know what to say to that. He would probably offend her if told her that even thought they were the same age, his Go level was most likely than not way above hers.

Giving in to the stubborn look in her eyes, Akira settled for white and Shidou-Go. He had assumed that she either didn't know how to play Go or was not very interested in it, since she had never shown any curiosity about his father's Go Study Group whenever they came to the house. His mother had been hoping he and Hikaru could find something in common to share, which had been a bit hard with their contrasting personality

"Ok, here I go. Onegaishimasu"

"Onegaishimasu"

_Hm…she holds the stones like a beginner, yet…she seems to know what she is doing_, thought Akira. His hand stopped midway on the way to the bowl of stones as he suddenly realized something; Hikaru was actually controlling the board now and had been since the beginning of the game. Quickly looking over the goban, Hikaru had easily deflected all of his attacks, in fact, not just deflected but with that last move, which was neither defensive nor offensive, she was actually testing him.

Looking up, Akira finally realized an awful truth; Hikaru might place her black stones like a total beginner, but like she had previously stated, she wasn't weak. In fact, she might even be strong enough to defeat him. Grasping a white stone firmly between his fingers, Akira tried to shake off the bad presentiment that he had.

* * *

"Finished already? How was it?", the lady at the front desk asked.

Covering a yawn, and stretching a bit, Hikaru answered, "Just finished and I didn't know playing a game on a goban could be this tiring and yet fun. I can't wait to ask nii-san to play with me again".

Brows furrowing, Hikaru added, "Although I should probably practice some more before I play with him again." A mischievous light transformed her green eyes to emerald as she added, "Hm…in fact, I should play lots of games with more strangers and surprise nii-san with my improved skills."

Wishing the girl good luck, Ishikawa turned around upon hearing some noise; it seemed that there was some kind of commotion in the back.

"What? Akira Sensei lost?"…"Are you sure?"…"Wasn't he playing a total beginner?"…"She definitely held the stones like a total beginner!"…. "…but if you count the komi, then wouldn't this game be a tied?"

"Excuse me, can you let me through? What is going on?" Ishikawa pushed her way to the back, where Akira-kun sat just staring at the board. "Hold on a second, Akira-kun did you just lost? But that girl said you were the second person she has ever played Go with."

Black eyes looked up from the goban to stare up at her in shock.

* * *

Akira had re-played the same game over and over during the last week and could not denied what had happened. The question was it a fluke? True talent? No matter what, he had to find out soon.

Turning at the sound of footsteps on the hallway, Akira rushed out of his room only to see his mother passing by carrying some laundry.

"Oh, Akira. You scared me. What are you doing? It is such a nice day, you should go out."

"Okaa-san, is Hikaru back yet?"

"No. She should be back later. She just called to say that she wanted to stop by this Go Children Tournament before coming home. I didn't even know she was interested in Go."

"Is that the tournament that started today?"

"Yes, I think it is the same one that your father was going to stop by to see. Why don't you go…Oh Akira, where are you going?"

"Sorry okaa-san, I am heading out. If Hikaru comes home, please don't let her leave."

* * *

"Wow this is so neat," Hikaru whispered into the camera. During this last week, she had been going to Momo-chan's house right after school and coming home so tired that she was barely able to make it up to her room before collapsing on her futon. She would never have thought that it could be this exhausting when four people worked as a group on a school project. _At least they were finally done!_

She had originally planned to head back to the Toya's house but then remembered the flyer that Ishikawa-san had given her about a Children Go Tournament. She had stopped by since it was on the way home and knowing how much her brother would enjoy seeing it even if he was not here in Japan, Hikaru was glad she had brought her digital camera along with her as well.

She was currently recording some of the games going on simultaneously at different tables. There were children even younger than her here! Catching sight of the kid from earlier, Hikaru lowered the camera and asked, "Oh, did you win? I remember seeing your game and thinking it was very interesting."

Looking at her weirdly, the kid answered, "No, I lost not long after. Do you think I could have won?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"How? I have thought about it and I think I lost when I placed my stone on 1-3 instead of 1-2", the younger child admitted in a defeated tone.

"It is okay. My nii-san says it is not bad to lose from time to time since you can learn from it. Here let me show you…uhm, is there an empty board around here?"

Finding one not in use, Hikaru re-constructed the game and stopped after placing the last stone at 1-3. "It would have been easier if you had played your stone one place up from the last one, but since you didn't, the game is still not over. If you had continued and placed it here and here and…. you could have come back and at the end would have won by at least two moku or so."

"What is going on? We are in the middle of a tournament," a gruff voice intruded upon the little group that had gathered around Hikaru. She looked up and winced; she had just wanted to see if the kid whose game had caught her attention earlier had won.

Hikaru sighed, at least she didn't get in too much trouble. After some scolding, the man had let her off. Oh, well, she should head home anyways, Sai-nii would be calling her in a few hours.

* * *

"You just let him off? You didn't even ask for his name? Was there anyone else with him? How did this even happen?"

"I am sorry Ogata-sensei. He seemed to be very contrite and the boy left by himself without any fuss. One of the participant's mother saw the boy come in and glance at her son's Kio-kun's game before the boy winced upon seeing this last hand and then the boy wandered off to check other games. After Kio-kun lost the game, the mother had panicked when she couldn't find him. We informed the staff and found her son re-playing this game with that kid…"

"Is that all you can say? Do you even remembered how he looked?"

"Uhm…he had baggy shorts, dark jacket and shirt and a dark cap covered most of his face so…"

"What is going on? Did something happen?"

Everyone turned around to see Toya Meijin enter the office.

"Sensei, Ichinose here let off a kid who was able to find the solution to this problem," Ogata pointed to the goban that a minute ago, he and some of the men around the room had been crowded in front of.

"This problem would take even a pro a minute or two to solve. Yet, he found the path for black's survival with just a quick glance!", Ogata concluded this with another fulminating glare at Ichinose.

Curious, Toya moved forward to look at what had caught their attention. "Don't worry, if there is a child this good, he would appear in front of us pros sooner or later."

* * *

"Good afternoon Ishikawa-san, is Akira sensei free to play Shidou-Go with me?"

"Good afternoon, Hirose-san. Unfortunately, Akira-kun is not here."

"Not here?" Blinking at this unusual news, Hirose had to check the back corner to make sure that his ears weren't deceiving him. No matter what day it was, one could always find him in the salon; on school days he would come here after he was done with classes, and on his free days he would spend most of the day in the salon either doing homework, playing Shidou-Go, or even watching others play. He, Ishikawa-san and the rest of the old patrons were happy that the younger Toya spent so much time here, but sometimes they also wished that he acted and played with children closer to his age.

"Is Akira-sensei still upset about the game I heard he had with a little girl?"

"Yes, he was here yesterday and all he did was re-play that game and…." , Ishikawa-san stopped and looked to the front door as she heard people running up the stairs which was pretty rare since most of the patrons either took the elevator or leisurely walked up to the salon.

"Akira! Hold on! Can't we play another day? Hey, AKIRA! Listen to me!"

After a week, the patrons of the salon suffered a second shock. Not only was the usually composed Akira Toya running but he was also pulling a reluctant child behind him. At first glance, many thought it was another boy; after all, the child was dressed in khaki baggy boy's shorts, a black jacket, and a black cap pulled so low that it covered his head and most of his face. The only thing that everyone could see upon first glance was that despite the baggy clothes, the child was thin and a couple of inches shorter than Akira.

Passing by many open mouthed patrons, Akira headed straight to the back of the salon.

"Akira, can't we do this another day? My brother…"

"What time do you have to be home?"

"No later than 6:00 PM"

"Good, we still have more than two hours left, which is more than enough time to finish a game. Just one game. Please."

Hikaru didn't know what to do. She wanted to play Go with Akira since it had been fun last time. However, today was not a good day; she was tired, was practically kicked out of a Go event, left her cell phone at Momo's place _(at least she hoped she had and that she hadn't lost it), _and to top if off she was practically dragged into this salon by Akira.

Not having her cell phone with her was not such a bad thing, except that today was a Sunday and Sai-nii would call her to check up on her; if she didn't respond either on the cell or at the home phone number, she didn't even want to imagine what he would do. The last thing she needed was for Sai-nii to get the Japanese police involved.

"Please."

Hikaru wavered some more…Akira was right, there was plenty of time for a game and she did feel she owed Akira since she had inadvertently insulted him at the train station. He was the first friend she had made in Japan and didn't want him to be too mad at her.

Sighing at Akira's still bowed head, Hikaru dropped her messenger bag and sat down. _Who knew Akira could be so pushy?_

* * *

A/N: Just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all your reviews and support! And I will tried to update as soon as I can.

I had so much that I wanted to write for this chapter but had to cut it down. I can't wait for the upcoming chapters where more characters would be introduced along with more chances for me to dwell a bit into Hikaru's past.


	3. Foreshadowing?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the "Hikaru no Go" characters

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Foreshadowing?**

Sighing at Akira's still bowed head, Hikaru dropped her messenger bag and sat down. _Who knew Akira could be so pushy?_

Pushing the sleeves of her jacket up and taking her cap off (_several gasps of surprise were heard as several of the patrons realized the __**he**__ was actually a __**she**__, while others also recognized her as the girl from last time_),Hikaru continued with a "Onegaishimasu"

"Onegaishimasu", was the only thing heard back from Akira before they nigiri.

Akira had gotten black and was sort of happy with it. During the last week he had thought of numerous scenarios in where he either got black or white. He had imagined all sorts of game opening moves or evens moves to follow Hikaru's opening one. And now here was his chance to finally play this long awaited game. Taking a deep breath to steady his nervousness and excitement, Akira placed a stone on the goban, ready to play as if his life depended on it.

Placing her stone down, Hikaru glanced up while waiting for Akira to make his next move; he was taking longer to make each move as the game progressed. Her eyes inadvertently landed on the clock facing her and her eyes widened upon seeing the time, _they had already been playing for an hour and 25 min_. Biting the nails on her left hand, and then looking at the clock and then back at the game, Hikaru was in trouble. What should she do?

Half an hour later, "Akira I really need to run. See you later," was all an anxious Hikaru could do before she sprinted out of the salon. She felt bad about cutting this game so short, but she really needed to go. She could have simply called it off when she noticed the time, but there were many reasons why she didn't.

First, was the look of determination on Akira's face; she knew without a doubt, he would not have agreed to just stop the game. Second, for a brief nano-second, the notion of losing on purpose had popped into her head, but she dismissed it as soon as it had crossed her mind; not only was that disrespectful towards Akira, the game and even herself, but she would also have hated it if her opponent did the same to her. Therefore, the only option was to win, and to win as fast as possible.

* * *

**Weeks later…**

"Baka, baka, baka! Sai-nii is nothing but an IDIOT!", Hikaru shouted the last bit into her pillow. Christmas was in two weeks and she was still grounded; the only place she was allowed to go was school and even that would come to an end since winter break was fast approaching. Sai-nii had lectured her for an hour and some on that fateful Sunday night when she was late because of that game with Akira.

For weeks she had been forced to refuse all invitations from friends and classmates. She had to say "no" when she was invited to the movies. "No" to going to a new café. "No" to a sleepover at Momo's house. "No" to joining any and all after school clubs. "No, no, no"; _she was so tired of sounding like a broken record!_ At least her friends had sympathized with her after she had explained why couldn't go anywhere or do anything because she was grounded.

Sai-nii had listened to her explanation of how she had left her cell at Momo's place, how Akira had dragged her into the Go salon and practically forced her to play a game. Sai-nii had _listened_ but she still got grounded. First, for not calling an adult and letting them know where she was and why she was going to be late. Second, for not asking permission to stay out past the time she said she was going to be home. Third, although Akira had dragged her there, she still set down on her own accord and played Go with him when she should have known better.

She did not dispute the above reasons, but she thought it was extremely unfair that she had been grounded for an _**indefinite **_amount of time; grounded until _**further **_notice.

"Come in", a knock interrupted Hikaru from further screaming her frustration out.

"Hikaru, I brought you some snacks and tea that I just made. Are you still upset with your brother? And me?", aunt Akiko asked as she gracefully slid the door closed and placed a tray next to Hikaru.

She set up and couldn't help the pout that spread to her lips, still manners forced her to say "Thank you. And no, I am not mad at aunty, it is all that stupid brother's fault. He is the one who calls everyday to make sure that I come home after school and he is also the one that makes you keep tabs on me."

Sighing, Akiko could not refuted anything. Sai-kun was being a little bit harsh, but still he had his reasons for keeping her on such a tight rein. She wished she could tell Hikaru the reasons behind her brother's actions, but it was not her place to do so; her brother had argued that she was still too young to know the truth. She agreed with the fact that Hikaru was still very young, but keeping her in the dark was not very good either.

"You know, your uncle's Go Study Group is coming in a bit, why don't you join them? I remembered you had gone to a Go events a few weeks ago."

"No, thank you. I like Go, but not right now. It was partially because of Go that I have been grounded for the last few weeks."

* * *

"Hikaru, can I come in? I brought ice cream". Akira tried to wipe the smile that had sprang to his lips before he knocked. Thanks to his mother, he had learned that Hikaru had a sweet tooth and no matter how upset she was, she would never turn her back on sweets. Still, just to be safe, Akira moved his right arm protectively in front of the tray in case another pillow flew towards him.

Akira had been shocked out of his stupor the first time Hikaru had thrown a pillow at him. He had been in a state of shock for a pretty long time after Hikaru had defeated him twice in a row, and during the last game, he had even been forced to resign. He had at first not notice that Hikaru had stopped talking to him, but then as the days passed, he started noticing the quiet at school and at home, and eventually found out from his mother that Hikaru had been grounded for an indefinite amount of time by her brother.

Akira had felt very guilty about it, after all, he was the one who had dragged Hikaru to the salon and even forced her to play a game against him. So, a few days later, he had gathered his courage and knocked on her bedroom door, ready to apologize. However, as soon as he had opened her door, pillows had come flying at him; the first one had hit him directly on the face. He had stumbled out of her room as more pillows flew at him.

* * *

Humming to herself, Akiko could not be happier. Her none-sweets loving son, had just come in and grabbed some ice cream; he probably went to cheer Hikaru-chan up. Still, she could not help a chuckle escape as she thought back about the stupefied look on her son's face when he had retreated to the kitchen the other day. She had first been worried, but then when Akira had explained what had happened, she had burst out laughing. Akira was an only child, and had never experienced the joys and annoyances of having a sibling. She had patted him on the shoulder and told him he was lucky that Hikaru-chan had not thrown anything heavier at him. She had explained to him that Hikaru-chan did not really hate him, else she would have completely ignored him and would not have even bothered to get mad at him. She had told him to give her some time to cool her temper and to go back the next day with a peace offering.

The next day, she had accompanied him to Hikaru's bedroom.

"Hikaru-chan, can we come in? We have brought fresh baked chocolate chips cookies and milk." Akira had followed his mother in and was almost kicked out of the room until Hikaru notice he was the _**one**_ carrying the tray of chocolate cookies.

"Hikaru-chan, I know you are mad at Akira and I understand why. My son is one-track minded when it comes to Go but he meant no harm. Here, why don't I let you two discuss it. I will be downstairs if anyone needs me."

She had left them alone and had assumed they had made up since her son had come down in one piece with an empty tray an hour later. From then on, Akira and Hikaru would take turns to stop by in each other's room, especially since Sai-kun had still not lifted Hikaru's punishment.

For an only child, her son was turning out to be a good brother.

* * *

Snacks and tea sat on the table between them, as both children sat on pillows working on their homework. Lately, it had become a sort of tradition for both of them to spend some time in each other's company, whether to do homework, read, or even talk _(Hikaru would talk most of the time and Akira would listen)._

Hikaru had first started it by coming into his room and asking if she could work with him since she was tired of the quiet of her bedroom. The next day, they had worked together in the living room, but it had gotten too noisy when pro's or other staff from the Go Association had come to see his father. At the end, they both decided that hanging out at each other's room was better.

This was a new experience for Akira; he had never really been close with children his age and thus had never really hung out with any other child like he was doing with Hikaru. Also, through this interactions, Akira had learned many things about Hikaru.

Some of the things were that Hikaru's parents had passed away sometime ago; her mother when she was barely three years old and her father when she was five. She didn't have many memories of them, but from pictures, Hikaru and her brother resembled both of them.

Hikaru's mother was half Japanese and American, a blond and green eyed beauty. While her father was a tall dark haired and dark eyed Japanese man. Both siblings had pale skin, dark hair and asian features but Hikaru got her mother's green eyes and her brother's lavender eyes, according to Hikaru, was from their great-grandmother from her mother's side. Hikaru did not say in words that she loved her brother a lot, but he could feel it from the way she described him. She also called her brother a genius and an idiot at the same time.

Another thing that had surprised Akira was that Hikaru had never gone to school before this year; she had always been home tutored as long as she could remember. Therefore, she had never played with children her own age; from the way Hikaru had bonded with their classmates, Akira would never have believed it unless she had told him.

* * *

Christmas had come and gone and New Year's was already here. The only good thing that came out of it, thought Hikaru was that she was no longer grounded. However, she could still not go anywhere, unless it was with someone else, preferably an adult. What brought her spirits more down was the fact that she had not seen her brother at all. This was the first Christmas and New Year that she had spent without him; he hadn't been able to come to Japan and she was not allowed to go to America to visit him.

"Hikaru these are for you. And these are Akira's."

Hikaru took the post cards that her aunt handed her with curiosity. "Thank you. Oh, they are new years greetings from my friends. What do you have there Akira?"

"New Year's greeting from our classmates, too" he answered with a bit of a surprise. During the last few years, some of his classmates had sent him New Year's postcards, but never as much as this year. He suspected that most did it because they felt it would have been rude and mean to send Hikaru greetings and him none.

"Hikaru and Akira, don't forget to reply back to them. Also, don't forget to dress warmly, we would go visit the shrine in an hour."

* * *

Hikaru couldn't help being curious. There were so many people here at the shrine. She had rang the bell, prayed and even drew a good fortune for this year. Craning her neck here and there, Hikaru tried to see what all the stalls had.

Smiling at seeing Hikaru in good spirits, Akiko gave them some pocket money for candy and told both of them to stay together and be back home in two hours. With an excited "Thank you", Hikaru tugged Akira off to explore all the stalls.

Akira wasn't sure what had happened; they were both heading home after Hikaru had bought lots of sweets and little keepsakes for new year. They were almost home when Hikaru noticed she had dropped the cell phone decoration she had bought her brother. They had both searched along the street in front of the house but could not see it, but both knew it had to be close, since Hikaru had taken it out a block or so before they reached home. At the end, they both split up to look for it.

"Akira, what are you doing?"

Before he could tell his mother anything, they both heard a blood curling scream. They both turned to see Hikaru round the corner at top speed and head straight for them. Akiko almost tumbled over as Hikaru ran into her and the terrify look on the child's face froze her up for a minute.

"Hikaru, what's wrong?"

When Hikaru tried to struggle out of her arms, Akiko held her tighter, "Hikaru, it's me, your aunt Akiko. Hikaru!"

Recognition dawning in her turbulent green eyes, Hikaru promptly fainted in Akiko's arms.

* * *

A/N: Just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all your support which has contributed greatly to why I was able to finish this chapter faster.


	4. Meeting Ogata Seiji

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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**Chapter 4 - Meeting Ogata Seiji**

"Hikaru, what's wrong?"

When Hikaru tried to struggle out of her arms, Akiko held her tighter, "Hikaru, it's me, your aunt Akiko. Hikaru!"

Recognition dawning in her turbulent green eyes, Hikaru promptly fainted in Akiko's arms.

"What happened?", asked Toya Koyo, better know as Toya Meijin, as he picked Hikaru up.

"We heard a scream and then Hikaru came barreling around the corner before fainting in a panic in my arms."

The older Toya turned around to look suspiciously at where his wife was pointing. He passed Hikaru to Akiko and told her and Akira to head inside and activate the new security system they had installed prior to Hikaru's arrival.

As far as he knew, noone but Sai knew Hikaru was here in Japan. Still, just in case he headed up the street to see **_what_** or **_who_** had scared Hikaru so badly.

* * *

**A couple of minutes earlier…**

"Happy New Year Ogata-san!", Ichikawa-san had bumped into him on the way to visit the Toyas and they were now walking side-by-side.

"Happy New Year Ichikawa-san"

"So did you do anything fun?"

"Played some Go games online. How about you?"

"Visited the shrine, prayed and…" , Ogata sort of tuned her out after that. It wasn't that he didn't like her; she was a nice enough woman. It was just that he had other matters to worried about. Such as playing more games and winning at least a title or two.

Ever since he was small, Go had intrigued him; the shapes that the addition of each stone could create, the challenge of reading ahead and beating your opponent, the feeling of exhilaration that came upon you whenever you played a great game. Therefore, it was no surprise that Ogata Seiji had chosen Go as his profession; he had entered the pro world in hopes of playing many and many great games. Yet, the higher he climbed, the less opponents he had. He had long ago surpassed players his age and the only ones who could still beat him were a couple of players that were at least a decade if not more older than him. And when he realized that, a sort of panic had set in.

_What would he do if the older and skilled players retired or even passed away? Who could he play challenging games with? _Thankfully, before full-blown panic had set in, Ogata realized that if there were not that many great players around his age, there were still those younger than him. It was true that they might be less skilled, but with potential and polish, they could become great players who could replace the "old wave" and become his opponents in the future.

For example, there was Toya Akira. Akira, a mere 12 years old boy, was already strong enough to defeat the lower-dans thanks to the training and games he has had with his father, Toya Meijin. However, Akira was just one player, and he had kept his eyes and ears open for more new and promising players to emerge in Japan. He had looked and searched, and had almost given up hope when that unknown boy and girl had appeared.

It all started a couple of months ago with the appearance of _**that boy **_at the Go Children Tournament. It had been months already and still no trace or sign of him. He wondered if maybe it had been a fluke, or that the boy had heard the solution to that tough game from a pro and was just simply repeating the answer when he explained it to Hio-kun. Whatever the answer was, if he could just find the boy again and test him himself, then he could be sure.

And then there was that other mystery; he had heard from Ichikawa-san and the salon patrons about an unknown girl who had showed up out of nowhere and beaten Akira not once but twice in Go. However, he had no luck in trying to get anyone to re-create the games for him and Akira himself had refused to do so; actually Akira had been pretty tight-lipped about it all whenever he had tried to pried. There were two possibilities for why Akira might have lost to another child of similar age; he might have gone either easy on her or had taken her seriously but had still got beaten so bad that he felt ashamed to re-play either game.

Unlike the situation with the boy from the Go tournament, in this instance, with the girl, Ogata had a first name, a solid physical description, and best of all knew someone who knew who the girl was. According to witnesses, the girl and Akira had seemed pretty familiar with each other. In fact, the first time, the girl had come looking for Akira and the second time, Akira had dragged the girl into the salon. Since Akira was not talking, maybe if he asked Toya sensei…

Sighing, Ogata threw that thought away as soon as it had popped into his head. His sensei was a very private and trustworthy man; if he didn't want to share anything, no matter what Ogata did, he would not divulge any information he did not wish to. So, even if Toya Meijin knew who the girl was, if Akira or the girl had asked for secrecy, he would grant it without a doubt.

He was so close yet at the same time so far;_ was it too much to hope for great future opponents? He was willing to wait for a couple of years for them to mature and he didn't want much, really, he just wanted to know for sure that there was someone, anyone, in addition to Akira, who were part of what he hoped was a "new wave" of Go players._ As if in answer to his prayer, those two mysterious children appeared.

He doubted either was a child of another pro…maybe a grandchild or a sibling? Either way, he was sure he would have heard about it. The Go world was a pretty tight community and news would have spread like wildfire if there was another child, let alone two more, who were as skilled as Akira in Go.

Before he could give himself a headache, Ogata was pulled out of his thought upon hearing a name.

"…Hikaru-chan, Hikaru-chan", Ichikawa-san called out.

"Where?", he whipped his head this way and that in an effort to see one of the people he had been wanting to meet for what seemed ages.

Ichikawa-san pointed across the street to the lone figure kneeling on the sidewalk. So deep in thought was she, that she did not even heard Ichikawa-san calling out to her.

"Is she the one…?", Ogata asked in a near whisper, afraid of raising his hopes up.

"The one? Oh, you mean the one that played and beat Akira twice? I still can't believe it either, but yes, that's her."

Ogata turned his head back around just in time to see the child get up and head towards the corner. Fearing to lose sight of her, without thinking he ran across the street.

* * *

Ichikawa-san swallowed. She tried not to fidget, but she had never seen Toya sensei this upset, scratch that, she had _never _seen him upset at all.

She couldn't really blame him either. If she had known what Ogata-san was going to do, she would never, _**never **_have called out to Hikaru-chan. She _would _have kept her mouth shut, _would _have knocked Ogata-san out, _would _have…there were just so many things she could have done to prevent this from happening. But honestly, she would never in a million years have imagined this.

She had watched in surprise as Ogata-san ran across the street, ignoring any oncoming cars and catching up to a once again kneeling Hikaru-chan. In the next minute, she had watched flabbergasted as Ogata-san pulled the girl up by one arm and when she tried to pull away, he had grabbed both of the girl's arms. And that's when the girl had let out a blood curling scream and whether intentionally or not she had kicked her captor in the stomach and in the shin, in addition to biting him on his left hand. He had let go of her to double in pain on his knees, while Hikaru-chan had run away.

And now they were in Toya's sensei's living room. She had just given her version of what happened and Ogata-san hadn't said anything in his defense yet.

"Ichikawa-san, would you excuse us for a couple of minutes?", inquired Toya Meijin, without looking at her. His gaze was fixed on his student, Ogata Seiji.

"Yes, of course. Actually, it's time I get going. I promised to have dinner with my family…", she trailed off and got out of the room as fast as possible. She slid the doors close and only got a feet away from the doors before she came face to face with Akira-kun.

"Akira-kun! Good afternoon, how is Hikaru-chan?"

"Good afternoon. The doctor had to give her a soother to calm her down. Okaasan is staying with her. Do you know what happened?"

Swallowing and feeling like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, Ichikawa asked for tea to steer Akira-kun away from the doors behind her and the discussion that was probably going on between those closed doors.

* * *

"Ogata, would you like to explain what happened?"

Ogata Seiji felt as if he was back in school and in the principal's office. When he had reached the girl, she had been so into whatever she was doing, that she didn't even notice his presence. He winced in pain upon remembering how she had solidly connected with his stomach and shin; they still hurt now.

"Sensei, I recognize that it wasn't the smartest thing on my part when I grabbed her. And I apologize. But I swear I didn't hurt her or threaten her."

Sighing, Toya Meijin felt an oncoming headache. From Ichikawa-san and some of the patrons from the salon, he knew Ogata had an interest in the girl who had beaten Akira in Go. He had deduced from the name and physical description given to him that the girl was indeed Hikaru. However, Hikaru and Akira had not mentioned it and he had not asked no matter how curious he himself had been.

Ogata's actions would have spooked anyone, but it shouldn't have been enough to scare Hikaru witless; the girl was young but mentally quite strong. There must have been something else or someone else who had scared her.

"Did you do anything else? Said anything to her? Was there anyone else?"

"I didn't see anyone else. I remember saying her name a couple of times and when she tried to pull away, I might have said something like 'I finally found you and you are not going anywhere'."

Toya Meijin winced, of all things to say, Ogata had to use those words. No wonder the girl had panicked; she must have though _**they**_ had found her.

* * *

**Half an hour later…**

Akiko opened the door with a finger on her lips asking her husband for silence.

"Hikaru is sleeping now. Did you found out what happened?"

He nodded and proceeded to explain to her what he had found out as they both walked down the hallway, away from Hikaru's room.

"The idiot! What was he thinking? Even if Hikaru was not traumatized by what happened to her a couple of years ago, anyone would have been frightened upon being manhandled by someone twice your size! Where is he? Is he still downstairs? I am going to give him a piece of my mind."

"Akiko, hold on. I sent him home and told him he could come back another day and apologize to Hikaru. I am upset with him too, but Ogata didn't mean any harm."

"Hmph", was the only response he got to that statement.

"And I figure it might help Hikaru if she sees that it was just Ogata who had grabbed her."

Arms crossed, Akiko thought about it. She had never been a violent person, but at this moment, she wanted to punch someone very badly; possibly Ogata, or maybe those kidnappers, or those so called 'relatives' of Hikaru's.

"I know he is your student, but I don't want him in this house for a while. And when he does come back, he is to never be left alone with Hikaru, _even_ when he apologizes to her for his stupidity."

Toya Meijin nodded in agreement. His wife was a gentle person but could turn into a tigress whenever her family was involved.

* * *

**A/N: Hi all! Sorry for the delay, but I was stuck a bit with the next chapter (I tend not to publish a completed chapter, unless I have the next partially done). I hope everyone enjoys it; from the beginning I did not plan to have as much focus on Ogata in this chapter, but without realizing it, he sort of took over. And for those that are interested in Hikaru's past, the next chapter will give everyone a bit of more info.**


	5. A glimpse of the past

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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**Chapter 5 - A glimpse of the past**

**Summer**

It had been a year since Hikaru had moved to Japan. She and Akira had turned thirteen years old in addition to graduating from primary school; in about two more months they would be attending Kaio Jr. High.

Back during new year, on the day after the incident with Ogata, Hikaru had woken up still a bit shaken about the previous day's events. However, she had calmed down a bit after the Toyas explained what had happened and who was the man that had grabbed her out of nowhere. During the daylight, Hikaru had felt embarrassed about her panic but when night came and she slept, nightmares would torment her. While she was sleeping, flashbacks and snippets mixed together with what Akiko imagined was the past and present troubled her every night for a whole month; she would wake up in a cold sweat and a sense of danger without knowing why.

Akiko and Koyo feared that the nightmares that Hikaru had but couldn't remember were somehow related to the past. Also, Akiko felt that she had failed Sai-kun. She could still remember the day when a young man with eyes that looked older beyond his years approached them; he had explained their connections and had begged them to take care of Hikaru until he himself could do so. Akiko and Koyo had listened, and without a second thought had agreed.

"After mother passed away, father threw himself into work. Hikaru and I rarely saw him since he left home early and came home late. However, sometimes, once a month, he would spend the whole day with us; he would take us to the zoo, museum, out for lunch, and anywhere Hikaru and I wanted to go. On one of those days, we had stopped for lunch at our favorite restaurant, when Hikaru asked to go to the washroom by herself. She had pouted and announced that she was a big girl and didn't need either of us with her. The place only had a few customers, so father and I pretended to let her go by herself; without her knowing, I followed her to the restroom and waited a few feet away from the door."

At the mention of his sister, Akiko still remembered how the young man's hard lavender-colored eyes had softened. However, they once again hardened when he continued on, "A woman had tripped a couple of feet in front of me and without thinking, I went to help her up. Less than five minutes later, I turned back to face the restroom. However, after waiting for a long while, Hikaru still hadn't come out so I asked a young woman who was heading into the washroom to please see if a little girl needed any help. The woman then came out and said there was noone in there. More than a bit worried by now, I rushed inside and yelled for Hikaru to come out before I realized that the little imp had probably gone out when I left my post for a few minutes and was probably eating lunch wondering where I was."

"Feeling foolish, I slowly walked back to our table and saw only father. When we realized that Hikaru was neither with him or me, we both panicked. We and the restaurant staff searched every inch of the place for Hikaru. There was just no trace of her anywhere. The police were called and through security cameras we saw a woman with a hat covering her face walking out of the place with what seemed to be a sleeping child in her arms; most of the child was hidden under a blanket but a piece of the dress and shoes peeked out under it, and they were the same ones Hikaru was wearing that day. An Amber Alert was sounded, and police expanded the search area from the restaurant to within 20 miles radius of it. Still, it was too late, the woman and the child had vanished. One day passed, two days and then three; neither the police nor the extra men that father had hired had any news for us. On day four, a box with the dress and shoes that Hikaru wore that day, along with a letter arrived at our house. It warned us to not tell the police if we ever wanted to see Hikaru alive. In the letter, there were instructions of what to do and what they wanted in exchange for Hikaru. I wanted to go with father but he said the police might get suspicious if we both left the house. When I still insisted on coming along, father set down with me and said that even thought he might not have shown it in the past, Hikaru and I were the most precious treasures he had left and that he would do anything to protect us which was why he would bring Hikaru back safe and sound."

"Not long after the arranged meeting time, the police called with news that they had found Hikaru and father in an abandoned warehouse. The woman, who was Hikaru's nanny and one of the kidnappers, had called the police when she learned that her accomplices were planning to kill father and Hikaru. Still, it was too late, the police only arrived in time to see men in black clothes and masks escape while father laid bleeding on top of Hikaru; father was shot twice and they would have killed Hikaru too if father hadn't shielded her."

"Although physically safe, Hikaru woke up in the hospital with no recollection of the events _**leading to, during **_and _**after**_ the kidnapping. Psychologists and doctors checked Hikaru over and assured me that her lost of memories were probably a coping mechanism, her sub-consciousness was probably repressing that horrific event. Yet, vague and frightening nightmares plagued her for a couple of months and afterwards, no one else mentioned anything about the incident and Hikaru was told that father died in an accident."

Taking a deep breath, as if to gain more courage, Sai had continued, "I don't think father thought that he would leave Hikaru and I so soon, so he had never updated his will; mother, Hikaru and I would inherit everything equally, and mother would take care of us and our inheritance until we turned 26 years old. Having no close blood relatives since father and mother were an only child, the only one's who appealed to the court to take custody of us was mother's step-family. I was sent away to college while Hikaru was hidden away in a small town. At that time, out of shock and guilt, I did as I was told; I did not do anything to prevent them from separating my sister and me. Also, I felt responsible for what had happened; if I had not taken my eyes off Hikaru for those couple of minutes, noone would have been able to kidnap her and father would not have been killed."

"During the next four years, all I did was study like a madman with the sole goal of turning into an responsible adult as soon as possible so I could face Hikaru once again. Due to my own stupidity and their interference, I only saw Hikary once every four months and did not even question whether the letters I had written were ever given to her. I don't think I realized something was wrong, until my senior year in college when I told them that as soon as I graduated, I wanted to take care of Hikaru. The step uncles and aunts try to dissuade me by saying how as a single young man I would not be able to take care of a little girl, how separating Hikaru from them was a bad idea and a bunch of more excuses. When I refuse to listen, they took matters into their own hands and persuaded the courts to extend their guardianship of Hikaru. Two years later, by pretending to be a naïve young man who had no clue about business dealings and would depend on them from now on, did they allow Hikaru to move in with me. By the time they noticed that I was slowly but surely taking control of father's company, it was too late. Hikaru, I, and father's inheritance was out of their hand. I don't have concrete evidence, but I know that they were behind the latest series of botched kidnappings."

And that's when Sai had had enough and devised a plan to send his sister to Japan; he had covered all their tracks, changed her last name and the only ones who knew of Hikaru's whereabouts were him, Toya Koyo and his wife. Akiko's heart broke for both siblings and would have gladly taken both of them into her home. However, she also understood the danger the siblings step-family represented and that it was safer to keep Hikaru in Japan, countries and thousands of miles away from them while Sai handled the rest. Akiko and Koyo would have done more, but they also realized that Sai had a plan and _**he needed **_to carried that out in order to forgive himself for the past; a past that the Toya's believed neither sibling had control of.

Therefore, the only thing Akiko could do was watch over Hikaru until her brother came back to Japan permanently. Yet, barely a year later, she had failed both of them; gone was the boisterous and energetic child replaced by a more subdue Hikaru who only left the house for school and did not hang out with any of her classmates or friends outside of school.

Akiko blinked back into the present upon hearing the phone ring. Twenty minutes later, she broke out in a huge smile; she was sure that Hikaru would love the news that she just got.

* * *

**A week later in Kyoto…**

Hikaru stood close to Toya Koyo as he signed both of them into the hotel. The place looked pretty from the outside and inside and there weren't many guests wandering in the lobby. The plan had been that while uncle Koyo dealt with some Go business in Kyoto, aunt Akiko, Akira and Hikaru would sightsee. However, the day before departure, something had popped up that required both mother and son to stay behind in town.

Hikaru had offered to stay as well, but aunt Akiko had insisted that there was no need and Hikaru should go and have some fun and that she and Akira would catch up with them as soon as possible.

"If both of you can please follow me. Toya-san are you and your family here to see the fair? Would your son or wife be joining you later?", before either of them could replied, the hotel employee went on, "If both of you stop by the front desk, we have many pamphlets with recommendations about the best places to go for shopping, eating, and many more. Here we are, this is the sitting room and to the left is the single bedroom and to the right is the bedroom with the double beds. Please let me know if you need anything else."

Uncle Koyo tipped the employee and waved Hikaru inside the room.

"Hikaru take your things to the bedroom on the right. I forgot something downstairs and will be back in a minute."

Before Hikaru could replied, the door closed with a click. Sighing, she grabbed hold of her bag and headed to her room. The trip wasn't that bad and from the little she could see, Kyoto did look like an interesting city.

She would unpack and if she had time would take a nap before dinnertime. With her mind made-up, Hikaru walked into her room and turned slightly when she heard some rustling in the back and prepared to scream like a banshee when a shadow headed straight for her.

* * *

**A/N: Just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the readers who have been following this story since the beginning and also all the new readers. Your continued support has encouraged me to continued writing even with all the hectic things that have piled up recently.**

**Sorry for the delay and as an apology, the next chapter should be up soon.**

**I hope everyone like this chapter, it was very sad and a bit hard to write but I hope now everyone understands a bit more about Sai's and Hikaru's past, plus why Sai left his sister with the Toyas. **


	6. Meeting

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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**Chapter 6 - Meeting **

**Back in Tokyo…**

"Did you forgot that there was no Go discussion today?", Akira asked in confusion. He was sure Ogata-san was present when his father's announced that this week's meeting was canceled.

Walking in, Ogata answered, "No, but I am not here to see sensei. I am here because your mother had asked me to stop by last week."

"She did?", Akira blinked in surprise. He himself had been upset with Ogata but had eventually forgiven him for what happened on new year's . After all, Hikaru had forgiven him and Akira himself had come close to doing the same thing to Hikaru when he had been desperate for that second game with her.

However, his mother had not been so forgiven, she had ignored Ogata whenever he came over; she would walk by him without acknowledging his presence, serve tea to her husband and the rest of his study group's students minus Ogata (and if anyone had asked Akira, it was better than his mother spilling hot tea on him) and much more. Yet, according to Ogata, not only had his mother willingly spoken to the man but had even invited him over to their house.

_**What was going on?**_ First, his mother had delayed their trip without explanation and now Ogata was here. Before Akira could voice his thoughts aloud, he heard his mother's footsteps behind him.

"Akira, who is it? Oh, you are here. Good, right in time. The movers should be here any minute."

"Movers?" Both Akira and Ogata asked in unison.

"Yes, the movers. Now come on, both of you get moving. And Akira, make sure you clear everything off the floor in your room."

* * *

**4 hours later…**

"Hm…no, I think it would be better if you move that dresser a bit to the left. Yes, that's much better. And about the desk, could you move it more to the right. Hm…"

Ogata Seiji wiped the sweat off his forehead, leaned against the desk and awaited for further instruction from Toya Akiko. Many in the Go Institution would have been shocked at his current disarray; he was sweating profusely, had long ago discarded his jacket and rolled his sleeves up. He tried not to pant, but it was hard after all the physical labor he had been doing non-stop for the last few hours. He had helped the movers move the beds and their frames, mattresses, desks, dressers, and more pieces of furniture than he knew what to do with into the house and up into the upper floor. The movers had come and gone, but Ogata Seiji himself was still stuck here and he suspected for a long time, too.

"Good, we are almost done and it is getting late, why don't we see how Akira is doing and then go downstairs for lunch?"

"Yes, Toya-san". Little did Ogata know that this was just the beginning…

* * *

**While back in Kyoto…**

Hikaru was getting ready to shriek like a banshee when she was tackled. Luckily for her, no hard wooden floor connected with her head; they landed on the bed with just the wind knocked out of her. Unfortunately for her, she was also squeezed to death.

"Surprise! Are you surprised? Hikaru-chaannnnnn! I missed you so much! How about you? How about you?", a super hyper and familiar voice asked.

Pulling her up into a sitting position, Hikaru couldn't help but let tears fall when she saw her brother's face.

"What? What happened?", her brother asked in a panic upon spotting her tears.

"Did I hurt you? Where? Let me see", frantically he made her stand while turning her around this way and that, checking for any injuries.

"Uhm…hurt…crying…tears…what should I do?", he whipped his head this way and that as if someone would give him the answer.

"Doctor…yes a doctor!", he said with a bit of relief as he stood up. Before he could go one step further, this time it was Hikaru who threw herself at him. She hugged him as tight as she could, while murmuring "Sai-nii"

Realization dawning on him, Sai patted and rubbed her back just like when she was younger; it only made her cried even harder, thought this time, tears also felt out of his eyes.

* * *

Toya Koyo knocked on the door to Hikaru's bedroom. Upon receiving no answer, he opened the door quietly; he didn't want to startle anyone but it had been over two hours and still he heard no sound or movement coming from her room.

He opened the door to see Sai seated up on the bed, leaning against the wall, while Hikaru slept next to him. Sai snapped his eyes open and held a finger to his lips for quietness and carefully disentangled himself from Hikaru; she had been clutching his hand tightly while his other hand had been brushing her hair. He pulled the covers up to her chin and kissed her on the forehead. He didn't want to leave his baby sister's side, but there were many things he wanted to discuss with Toya Koyo.

* * *

Hikaru woke up with a start to a dark room and no sign of her brother; it was just a dream. She swallowed the lump that rose and swore not to cry like a baby again. She reached out towards the lamp on the nightstand and in the process heard a "thud" as she must have knocked something down. With lights flooding the room, she looked down and gasped.

In her haste to reach for the object that fell, she herself crashed to the floor with a loud "thunk". As she picked up the small stuff doll a bigger version of the doll she was holding slammed the door open.

"Hikaru, are you okay?"

She looked up from the doll she was clutching to the man standing in the doorway. The doll was dressed in ancient white and lavender robes and had long hair flowing out from under a black hat. The reason it make her think the doll was similar to her brother was mainly due to the fact that both had the same lavender colored eyes and long hair. Still clutching the doll tightly she rushed to her brother's arms to make sure he was really there and was not just another figment of her imagination.

Easily picking her up, he turned to uncle Koyo, "sleepyhead here finally woke up. How about we all go grab some dinner."

* * *

Hikaru could not help but grin during the trip back to Toyko; not only had she finally seen her brother, but she had been able to hang out with him for a couple of days. Uncle Koyo had to attend to some business while in Kyoto, so Sai-nii and her had explored the city by themselves; they went to a festivals that was going on and explored each booth's offer from salty, sour to sweet food, to games, toys and clothes and much more. They had also seen some plays, and had gone to the mall where besides buying her jeans and shirts, he had also insisted on buying her dresses and kimonos_, which was pretty pointless in her opinion since she was more of a tomboy _but since they made him happy she just shrugged and tried on whatever he passed to her_. _They had also chatted and talked about everything and anything. By the time they had to part ways, it was bittersweet, but her brother promise her that she would see him more often than last year.

"I have to go back now. But I am almost done with settling father's businesses. Before you know it, I will be able to move to Japan permanently, so you better start thinking about what kind of place you would like to live in. A house? An apartment? Near or far away from your school? You would also have to show me where your school is and introduce me to your friends. And by the way, how many of them are boys and….", he went on and on until Hikaru was ready to push him out the door and into a plane to America.

He told her "to be a good girl and to listen to aunt and uncle", sticking her tongue out she had replied with a cheeky, "I am always good. Sai-nii is the one who behaves more childishly." At that time, Hikaru did not know how right she was.

Sai waved Hikaru off, checked his cell phone which had a small fan hanging on the side as decoration given to him by his baby sister, hafted his own bag up one shoulder, and waited for the next flight to Tokyo. He had some things he wanted to settle with someone else before heading back to the US.

* * *

**The next day, in Tokyo…**

Ogata Seiji could be said to be having one of the worst week of his life. Not only had he been forced to help his sensei's wife, Toya-san move and re-arrange heavy furniture to her specifications, but he had also had to go shopping with her as she decided what cloths and sheets and decorations to buy for the house. The only good thing that came out of it, was that by the end of the week, she had warmed to him, and had even told him that the next time he came to the house for the Go study group, she would have his favorite tea ready.

He could not really blame her for the cold treatment he had received this last couple of months since it was his fault for scaring the kid but who knew the gentle looking Toya Akiko could hold a grudge for so long. Now that he was off her blacklist, he swore to himself, he would never do anything to get himself back there.

The scrapping of a chair brought him back to the present. He was at another Go event where amateurs of all ages competed against each other. As one of the pros who was attending this event, it was his job to oversee some of the games going on and to offer Shidou-Go to anyone who was interested during the next portion of the event. He was sure he still had some time off before the teaching section started, so with a frown he looked up to see who had interrupted him and blinked when he caught sight of the person seated across from him.

The man had a dark cap and a pair of black sunglasses that hid his eyes and most of his face. He was also dressed in black, and had dropped on the table a black bag and a cell phone with a miniature fan hanging off it. Before Ogata could ask who the man was, the man asked, "Care for an even game?"

He didn't even had time to answer before the man grabbed some stones from the bowl next to him and waited for him to said "even" or "odd". Normally, Ogata would have either ignored the person or verbally knocked him down a few pegs, but a shiver of excitement coursed through him when he looked down at the Go board.

Whether due to luck or not, Ogata got black and started first. As the game progressed, he noted his opponent was no amateur. The stranger's moves were modern yet at the same time they reminded him of Shusaku's playing style. He tried to get the man to tell him who he was, but the man just ignored him and after twenty minutes, Ogata had to give up that line of pursuit seeing as he needed his full concentration on the board.

"I have nothing," Ogata squeezed those words out. He had tried to attack and defend to no avail; his opponent was merciless and had practically massacred Ogata on the Go board.

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone, I tried to make this chapter more light-hearted than the last one. This is also a sort of conclusion/punishment for Ogata for what he did during new year, so hopefully this way, you as the readers, would also forgive him like Toya Akiko did. **


	7. Back to School

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 7 - Back to school**

"Welcome to Kaio Jr. High. For the next three years this will be like a second home to all of you. And we, your teachers and staff will do our best to help all of you prepare for high school and beyond. And…"

Hikaru tried to hide a yawn, their principal had been going on and on and on.

"Tiring isn't it? My older brother attends this school too and he says that although the principal is actually a very nice guy, he is also pretty long-winded. And hi, my name is Sakura Tasuke, but you can call me Sakura." A girl to her right whispered.

"Hi, I am Hikaru and this is Momo," Hikaru answered with a smile while introducing herself and the girl to her left, too.

"…this year is special for many reasons. One of them is that we have two students who have the same top score on the entrance exam. If you can please give a warm welcome to the representatives for this year freshman class, Toya Akira and Fujiwara Hikaru."

Clapping could be heard as Toya Akira walked up to the stage but soon the clapping died down as the class caught sight of who the second person was. Most were not that surprise to see Toya Akira scoring the highest on the entrance exam, after all he looked intelligent and polite and walked dignifiedly up to the stage. However, the next representative was 180 degree different from Toya; first, her hair had blond streaks on it, and she bounced, _for goodness sake_, she bounced up the stage. And apparently, the students weren't the only ones shocked since many of the teachers looked pretty bewildered too.

"Now let's hear a couple of words from our freshmen representatives", the principal continued unfazed as he stepped away from the podium and sat down next to the vice-principal on the chairs that were provided on the left side of the stage.

When Hikaru indicated he should go first, Akira started, "I want to first congratulate everyone. Thanks to our teachers, parents and our own hard work, we are all here and I hope that the next few years we will all work just as hard, if not harder, and accomplish all our goals."

"Well, as Akira here said, congratulations to all of us and all that. But what I want to hear is all of you; it is too quiet, come on people, make some noise! This is just the first day of our middle school life, so let's celebrate before we have to turn into boring middle schoolers."

A pause of silence greeted Hikaru's words, before some whispers of outrage erupted, but they were soon drowned out by the joyous shouts and whistles from the rest of the students.

"Wohoo! Yes, that's the spirit!", Hikaru managed to add before the vice-principal snatched the microphone away from her and ordered everyone to settled down before heading to their homeroom.

* * *

"I can't believe she did it…"

"…she must be either nuts or brave…"

"Did you see her hair…"

"…how did she manage to tied for the top entrance exam scores?"

These and many more whispers followed Hikaru as she headed to her homeroom. She had told the principal's secretary, the lady who had called the house to inform Hikaru and Akira that they were going to be giving speeches, that Hikaru was no good at all at giving speeches.

The lady must have though she was nervous or something since the next thing she said had been, "Don't be nervous and just say what you heart wishes to. I am sure you will do fine, after all, you and Toya-kun got the top scores in the entrance exam."

And Hikaru did do as the secretary suggested, which was why Hikaru _did _not understand why her little speech had caused such a commotion? _Maybe she should have had made it longer? Hikaru guessed she could also have made it a bit more dignified like Akira's, but then again that was Akira and not Hikaru. _Shrugging it off, Hikaru walked pass Akira as he waved her to go in first.

As soon as they walked inside their homeroom, all conversations stopped to stare at the newcomers. Many different thoughts crossed the minds of the people inside the classroom; some were of admiration, wonder and curiosity, while others were of dislike since the top two students were in their class.

"For now, everyone please take a seat anywhere you like since I will assign you your designated seats tomorrow. I am Amino-sensei and will be your homeroom teacher for the next three years. Please feel free to come to me for any help or advice. I will take attendance first and then remind you that although Kaio Jr. High is known for its academic achievements, we also have great clubs. You are not require to join a club, but we deeply encourage you to and to help you make a choice, each club was kind enough to make a pamphlet which I would hand out to you in a minute. Also, you will have the rest of the day to explore the clubs that interest you before making any decisions."

As soon as sensei finished taking attendance, some boys and girls, including some old classmates from primary school, surrounded Hikaru and a few brave girls approached the quiet-looking Akira who was seated next to her.

"Hi, why is your hair different colors?"…where do you live…?….Are you an only child?…How many siblings do you have?…were you nervous while you were on the stage?"…did you see our vice-principal's face? He seemed to turn several shades of red…."

The questions went on and on. Amino-sensei shook her head and let her class be, after all, it would be good for the class to get along since they would be spending the next three years together.

* * *

"Come on Akira. Let's goooooo. I heard this school has an excellent Go club. Let's check it out and see if the rumors are true, plus it would be fun to see more people our age playing Go. Besides", she added sneakily. "I might be so impressed that I would want to play more Go games from now on."

And that was all the incentive Akira needed; many things have happened during the last year and he had not found a good time to ask Hikaru for another game. She was the first person, who was the same age as him, whose Go abilities were above his. He had been practicing diligently and had wanted to play at least another game with her to see how much more closer he was to her and eventually to the Hand of God.

Also, if Hikaru was willing to play more games, Akira could show her how good she really was and that it was a waste of talents if she did not turn pro. As to the school's Go club, they could just go and check it out. And if, just _**if**_, they happened to join the club, they still didn't need to play in tournaments; this way, Akira wouldn't be breaking the promise he made with his father to not play in school tournaments.

Akira almost bumped into Hikaru as she suddenly stopped in front of a vending machine. "Oh, I almost forgot, here Akira", she added as she tossed some kind of bread at him. "I got this from the cooking club. They are really nice and told me I could come by anytime even if I am not a member. You want green tea, right?"

Ten minutes later, tea and bread consumed, both Akira and Hikaru walked into the Go club. The room was pretty big and there were rows and rows of long tables set up with Go boards. Most of the seats were taken by students who were either playing with each other, discussing games or going over Go problems.

"Cool", was all Hikaru could say as she tried to see everything at once.

Akira barely managed to hide his amusement; sometimes Hikaru acted like such a kid. Before he could say anything, a older man approached them.

"I am Yun-sensei, the club advisor. Are you Toya Akira?"

All background noise stopped when they heard the name Toya Akira. There had been rumors that the Meijin's son had entered the school and many were wondering if he would join the Go club. Some felt excited while others felt threatened to have such a Go prodigy amongst themselves.

"Hi, nice to meet you sensei. I am Hikaru and this is Akira. Would it be okay if we both looked around."

"Sure. You can…", Yun trailed off upon looking at the speaker. He had caught sight of Toya Akira and had not noticed his companion until now. He blinked once and then twice; with her two colored hair, the girl looked more like a punk and an outdoors type than a Go player.

"Actually, Miya-kun", sensei gestured towards a student, "can you give please give them a tour and answer any questions they might have. Afterwards, Toya-kun, would you like a game?"

* * *

10 minutes later while Hikaru flitted from one ongoing game to another, Akira settled down to play a game with Yun-sensei.

"I used to teach Go to children in Korea. And when a chance came for me to do the same here in Japan, I agreed to do it. However, after arriving in Japan, I was disillusioned with the level of Go in Japanese children."

"Korea is very strong in Go," Akira replied politely as he placed another stone on the board.

"Yes. However, I changed my mind when I came to Kaio; the children here have a lot of potential, very comparable to those in Korea."

"I also heard that you were the best from your generation."

"Oh, no. There is…", Akira trailed off. He didn't know whether he should bring Hikaru's name in or not. Akira knew for a fact and without a doubt, that Hikaru was the best among their peers, but he also didn't want to throw Hikaru into the Go world, until Hikaru herself stepped in willingly. Also, Ogata-san was probably an exception, but just to be safe, Akira did not want a repeat of what had happened between Ogata and Hikaru when an older pro had found out about Hikaru's potential.

"We can stop now. I can see rumors were true about your skills. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I lecture and on Fridays we have discussions of the 'next hand'. In this club, most members play with people of similar skill level, some work over Go problems, while others study past Go games. You and your friend can join us anytime."

"Uhm..sensei", three girls approached them and asked if Akira could play Shidou-Go with them.

"You guys, Toya-kun is not…"

"It is okay, Yun-sensei. I can play with them for a bit", Akira answered when he noticed that Hikaru was not ready to go anytime soon.

* * *

A week passed and Hikaru still had not made up her mind. Some of the Go club members were nice and others were sort of snobbish.

"Do you think we should tell Yun-sensei?", Hikaru stopped upon hearing two Go club members whispering in front of a door. Curious, Hikaru walked closer and notice that it was a storage room that belonged to the Go club.

"…Toya-kun….might be in trouble…", upon hearing those words, Hikaru sped up and pushed both students out of the way and slammed the closed door open.

Four heads turned at the sudden noise. Two older sempai's and a first year, each set in front of a Go board and what seemed to be ongoing games, while Akira himself stood with his back to them cleaning a bookshelf.

Hikaru snapped when she connected two and two together. They were all bullying Akira by forcing him to play three blind Go games while the rest of the players did not have the same handicap.

"Hey, first year. What do you think you are doing?"

"Shut up. Let's go Akira." However, another sempai stood up and blocked their path.

"We were just playing a game and it is very impolite to leave a game unfinished."

At the word "game" Hikaru left eyebrow twitched. Ignoring them and still holding Akira's hand, she pushed the older sempai out of the way. However, the same guy who had blocked her path previously, had grabbed hold of Akira's other arm and was not letting go.

"Hikaru I can…", Akira tried to interject.

"Fine", Hikaru added as she pushed Akira in front of the boards.

"What are you doing?"

"What, afraid to play fairly? Weren't you three very brave just a minute ago?"

Turning her glare on him, Hikaru just pointed to the bowl of go stones, "Akira, you have five minutes."

To be exact, 4 minutes and 10 seconds later, Akira followed a fuming Hikaru out of the room.

* * *

**A/N: What does everyone think so far? We are slowly but surely moving closer to the Go world. Also, as some of you might have noticed, I am sticking with the two semester per school year instead of three. And the next chapter should be out 2-3 days from now.**


	8. New Friends?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 8 - "New friends?"**

"I can't believe there are Go players who are jerks like that. I don't want…"

Fearing that Hikaru would say something along the lines of "not wanting to have anything to do with Go because of players like that", Akira hurried to reassured her that they were just another exception and that it really wasn't that bad.

_Was fate playing a game with them? _First, there was the incident with Ogata and now this; the last thing Akira needed was for Hikaru to have another bad impression of Go.

"Not bad? Are you out of your mind? Three to one and you were playing with a handicap while they weren't. Which reminds me, why did you even play with them? Why did you even want to continued?"

As soon as the answer popped into his head, Akira suppressed it right back. There was no way he would tell Hikaru that they had threatened to kick him out of the club if he didn't play. And that the only reason he had wanted to stay in the club was because of Hikaru.

Not expecting an answer, Hikaru just kept walking while muttering, "Itou, Kojima and Okamura…"

Recognizing the names of the three students he had been playing, Akira asked Hikaru what she was talking about.

"Never mind. You will see tomorrow."

* * *

Akira had been right when he suspected Hikaru was up to something. Upon finishing with helping clean up the classroom, he had arrived late to the Go club to find all the members, including Yun-sensei, crowded around a table.

He managed to squeeze and push his way to the front to see Hikaru playing Go with the same three students from yesterday. All three had a bit of a smug look on their faces probably due to the fact that their opponent, Hikaru, was crazy enough to challenge all three at once. Add to that, the fact that Hikaru was playing Speed-Go, slapping a stone down as soon as her opponents did, most likely also helped to boost her opponents confidence; they probably thought that Hikaru was way over her head.

_If only they knew…_shifting his attention from the poor fools to the boards, Akira tried to see how each game had gotten to where they were. To the untrained eye, and with Hikaru's speed, many would think she was placing her moves without thinking too deeply, but Akira knew better. And from the look on Yun-sensei's face, Akira figured the teacher was beginning to see it, too.

Hikaru's Go was a bit hard to pin down; there were times when her moves seemed pointless and erratic, but then a bit later, they would turn to be great moves. And then there was that trace, that essence of Shusaku's.

A twinge of pity tugged at Akira's heart as he saw the last move Hikaru made on the board she shared with Itou-sempai and then the one with Kojima-sempai; she had just sealed any and all escapes routes and if either sempai carried their game to Yose, the difference in skill would be beyond their worst nightmares. In comparison, on the last board, the one with Okamura, Hikaru seemed to be going easier on him, in fact, _she was playing Shidou-Go with him!_

"I have nothing", Kojima murmured. Five minutes later, Itou resigned, too. Ten-minutes later, Okamura's Shidou-Go game ended with Hikaru winning, of course.

"They were great games. Each of you did your best. Fujiwara, I didn't know that Speed-Go was your specialty."

"Oh, it is not. That was my first time playing Speed-Go. And I had so much fun thanks to them being so kind to play with me", Hikaru answered innocently while at the same time stumping more on her opponents pride.

"There you are Akira", standing up, Hikaru bowed to the sensei and said, "I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone else who has also been kind to me and Akira during this last week. Due to various reasons and other commitments, Akira and I would not be able to stay in this club."

* * *

"Hey Hikaru…uhm…why did you leave the club so suddenly?"

"Did you wanted to stay?"

"No, but…you see, if you quit because of yesterday…most of the Go players are not like that…"

"Akira, I get it. Relax. And sorry I didn't realize that some of the players felt that way about you. But don't worry about it, they were just jealous of you and I doubt anyone of them would be in any hurried to cross paths with us again", Hikaru added the last part with a glint in her eyes.

"And I know that not all Go players are like that. In fact, I have met some very nice ones that I have become friends with. Are you busy this Saturday? Want to meet them?"

* * *

Akira wasn't sure what to expect; he had been a little bit hesitant and then downright worried when he had learned that Hikaru had met these friends online. Hikaru could sometimes be so naïve that it was scary and thus he was here with her, in front of the Go Association, waiting for herthree new _friends_, who also claimed to be insei at this place.

"Hikaru?" a voice asked hesitantly. Akira turned around to see a slightly older girl approaching them.

"Nase? Hi! It is so nice to finally meet you." After hugging each other, Nase turned around to greet the boy next to Hikaru and mentally groaned when she saw it was Toya Akira. Neither Nase or Isumi had any dislike towards Toya Akira, but the same couldn't be say about Waya; Morishita-sensei, a.k.a. Waya's Go's master, seemed to have a deep dislike for Toya Meiji and anyone in his study group and thus that dislike had somehow trickled down to Waya disliking Toya Jr.

Hopefully, Waya's like and admiration of Hikaru would outweigh his dislike of the younger Toya; during the middle of summer, Waya had met an incredible Go player online and had convinced Isumi and Nase to join in the online games. About two months later, after much persuasion, _**Hikaru07**_ had agreed to meet all of them in front of the Go Institution.

"Hey Nase, this is Toya Akira. Where are Isumi and Waya?"

"Hi Toya-kun. Isumi just called to say that the trains were stopped for some reason and it would take an hour or so before they are operating again. We can wait for them inside the institution if you want? I can even give you a tour."

"That would be neat. I have never been in it. Akira, how about you?"

"I have been in there a couple of times. But I am probably not as familiar with it as much as Nase-san who is an insei. Thank you so much for giving us a tour."

"Oh, no, your welcome. And please call me Nase."

* * *

**Half an hour later…**

"He is sort of spooky", Hikaru commented as the elevator's doors closed. Nase, Akira and Hikaru were heading down to the breakroom when they crossed paths with an old man on the way to the elevators. Both Nase and Akira had given the man respectful nods, and as he had walked by them, Hikaru could have sworn the man had stopped, turned around and then gave her a weird look.

"Yeah", Nase agreed. "But he is, you know, Kuwabara Honinbo"

"Who? Honinbo?", Hikaru asked in confusion. "Is he related to Shusaku Honinbo"?

Nase almost slapped a hand to her own forehead. Thought she shouldn't be too surprise; from their previous online talks, she noticed that although Hikaru was a prodigy at Go, _most of the times_, she seemed to have no knowledge of the Go world.

"No, no relation at all. It is just that Kuwabara-sensei has won and have been defending the Honinbo title for years. Hikaru, do you remember the major Japanese titles that we were talking about the other day? Kisei, Meijin, Honinbo, Judan, Tengen, Oza and Gosei? "

* * *

About an hour later, Nase and Hikaru had just finished a friendly Go game when Waya and Isumi finally joined them.

"Nase…sorry…train…late…"

"Seat down and breath Waya. Hikaru this is Waya and Isumi."

"Hi."

Waya blinked a few times upon catching sight of Hikaru. He had suspected the online Go player _**Hikaru07 **_was a child close in age to his own; but he would never have imagined it was a thirteen year old girl. And on top of that, was she foreign? She had green-eyes, bleached hair and looked not at all like your typical Go player.

"Earth to Waya", Hikaru waved a hand amusedly in front of him. Coughing to cover his embarrassment, Waya sat down next to Nase. "So ,what were you two doing?"

"We were getting ready to discuss this game. So what do you guys think?" Any discomfort upon first meeting was wiped away as Isumi, Waya, Nase and Hikaru settled down to discuss Go.

None of them notice Akira walking back to the table, arms loaded with the drinks he had gone to buy, until he said, "That wouldn't have worked either. Ten moves later, Hikaru would have connected at 12-7 and still sealed her off."

"You!" was all Waya managed to say when he looked up to see who had just pointed out that his countermeasure for Nase would have been in vain against Hikaru.

Nase and Isumi cringed. They had all been having so much fun that she had forgotten to warn Toya and Hikaru about Waya and Waya about Toya Akira.

Nase whacked Waya on the back of his head and told him to behave. In a whisper, she added, "Toya is Hikaru's cousin, so if you don't want her to hate you, you better behave!"

Looking back at Hikaru, Waya swallowed whatever he had wanted to say about Toya Akira. _Of all people, why did Hikaru have to be related to Toya Akira?_

* * *

**A/N: Hi, wanted to thank everyone who has commented (esp. for Chapter 7: "Crazy Hyper Lady", "the story lives on", "Raine Haruto", "Nikari87", and "Modoc"). Thank you so much! It is very encouraging to know that people are reading and do care about this story. **

**To answer one of the questions I got about what Akira's and Hikaru's relationship is going to be like…I still haven't decided…I will let the story play out and see where it takes us. Here is another chapter. Enjoy!**


	9. Finally being noticed by others

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 9 - Finally being noticed by others….**

"_I must win and then I will tried to find out who they are," thought the Sweden representative._

"_I wonder if either is really Japanese…"_

"_This player is strong, but not as strong as either of them…I will just win and then I will do my best to find them", thought the American representative as he looked across the board at his opponent._

"_Hm…I must win and make it to the final. I can't loose to either Japan or Korea and then I will find…"_

This and many thoughts were floating among the 50 amateur Go players who had gathered for the Go International Amateur Tournament. Each came here to do their best to represent their country. But beneath it all, each of them also had another common goal; to find out who the online monster that had swept the online Go world was, who was _**Sai**_? Also, many were interested in finding out who _**Hikaru07**_ was; many thought that the latter player was a student of the first one since their playing styles were very similar.

Both online players style reminded many of the observers of the Go Saint, Honinbo Shusaku. However, despite the similarities, there were also differences among both players. One player was more refined, graceful, and did not make any mistakes. And the other player's Go, although powerful, still exhibited from time to time some weaknesses that whether by luck or not turned into great moves toward the end. Both players were registered as Japanese, one was online longer than the other, and to the frustration of their online opponents and as far as they knew, both players also never engaged in any conversation.

Both players rarely played the same opponent twice; it was most likely due to the fact, that as their fame swept thought the net, more and more players challenged them and thus they never lacked any opponents. Also, their online game room, especially _**Sai's,**_ would always be filled with tons of other players who had either played with them or wanted to; many watched each of their games in hopes of gaining more knowledge about them or to simply learn from their games.

Many also swore that both must be Go professionals, thought that was doubtful since both players were online when pro's games were scheduled. No matter what, each of their opponents wished to find out who the players were.

"Morishita-sensei, thank you so much for agreeing to referee this tournament".

"Don't worried about it. I am just glad to be able to see that so many people interested in Go", replied Morishita as he looked around the room and at the many different participants of a tournament that would last a total of 4 days.

"I agreed with you sensei. Who do you think will win?"

"Hm…there are many strong players, but I think it will once again come down to China, Korea and Japan…Waya, there you are! What's wrong?"

"Sensei, is he one of your students?"

"Yes, he is Waya. I asked him to come in and help around. He is an insei, and although he is not ready to play the upper level amateurs yet, he could still give the lower level players some work. Also, he is taking the pro exam this year. He passed the preliminary with 3 wins and no loss."

"Wow, that's amazing, as expected of one of Morishita-sensei's students."

Before either could replied, both heard a slight commotion coming from the table where Shimano, the Japanese representative, had just finished a game.

"…_**Sai**_? _**Hikaru07**_? No, I am neither of them and have no clue who they are."

"Then how did you know I was going to ask you about them?", asked Shimano's opponent.

"I already had many players come up and ask me the same questions before you did. And anyways, who are they? Why do so many players even care who _**Sai **_or _**Hikaru07 **_are?"

At the mention of _**"Sai" **_and _**"Hikaru07"**_,many players who had finished their games crowded around Shimano and each added their two cents.

"You have never heard about them?…have you played any online games?…_**Sai**_ is a monster and _**Hikaru07**_ is another monster in the making. They came out of nowhere…"

"What is going on over here?", Ogata asked aloud as he and Akira met up with Morishita's group at Shimano's table.

"We are not sure. I am surprised to see both of you here", added the organizer who had previously been talking to Morishita and Waya.

"We are here to support Shimano-san. He use to come often to the Meijin's Go study session. Shimano-san, what's going on?"

"Thank you for coming Ogata-san and Akira-kun. It seems there are two extraordinary Go players online."

"Hello. I am Lee and I represent China. I have played _**Sai **_and was completely crushed by him".

"Hi, I am Kim from Korea. Although I have never played with either of them, a friend of mine, Korean 7-dan proYu asked me to find out who they were while I was here in Japan. He said that they are Japan's top players, especially _**Sai**_."

"Can either of them be pros?", asked Ogata.

"No, they can't be, at least not _**Hikaru07**_; he is often online and is not too picky on who his opponents are. Would a pro have so much free time? And though Sai is not online as often, the times he does play matches, many of those occasions are when some pros games are on, so he can't be a pro either," said China's Lee.

"If they are not pros, then who are they?", asked Kim of Korea.

Ignoring most of the commotion going around him, Waya thought, _Why did he had to show up here too!_ At the end, Waya gave up glaring at Akira and added. "Yeah, both _**Sai**_ and _**Hikaru07**_ are great players. At the beginning, I even thought that their playing styles resembled Honinbo Shusaku. But who would have guessed that _**Hikaru07**_ is a chil…", Waya never managed to finish, since right at that point, Akira slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Akira-kun?", Ogata asked upon seeing Akira's unusual reaction.

"What he meant to say is that they are both great players. And if not a pro, maybe a retired pro? Please excuse us", added Akira as he dragged Waya away.

"Shusaku…a retired pro….but I don't recall any pro's who have that style of Go…", were some of the comments Akira heard as he marched Waya to an empty corner of the room.

"You prick! What the heck was that about," Waya yelled at Akira. After finding out that he and Hikaru were related, Waya had done his best to be civil to Toya Jr. And now, not only did the jerk show up but he also had to drag him away for no apparent reason.

"Where you going to give away Hikaru's identity?", asked Akira after he made sure noone was close enough to hear them.

Looking a bit guilty, Waya answered defensively, "Of course not! I was just going to say that one of the online players was a female child our own age. I wouldn't have told them Hikaru's name."

"Even if you didn't mention her name, they would still wonder how you knew what gender and age that player was. From then on, they would have hounded you until you gave them a name", Akira added exasperatedly.

"Oh", was the only thing Waya could say as he realized how right the other boy was.

"Anyways, let's just go somewhere for a bit, before anyone becomes suspicious and comes looking for you."

* * *

Without having any idea of what was going on miles away, in her own room, Hikaru pressed the speaker button on her cell phone.

"Ok, nii-chan, I am ready. I will be black and you can be white."

Half an hour later, as Akiko was passing by Hikaru's room, she thought she heard Hikaru and Sai's voices; she couldn't hear much but heard what she thought were some numbers:

"_17-1"_

Pause.

"_12-5"_

Pause.

"_3-3"_

Pause.

"_8-9"_

At first, she thought they were calling out the coordinates on a Go board but then she didn't hear any of the "pachi" sounds the stones would make as they are set down on a board. In fact, Hikaru didn't even have a Go board in her room. Shaking her head at her overactive imagination that was probably being influenced too much by her Go-nut loving husband and son, Akiko headed downstairs. Hikaru was most likely than not just playing some other game with her beloved brother over the phone. She would just tell Hikaru later about the sweets she had just baked.

* * *

**About an hour later…**

"Argggg. I give up! I resign"

"Hikaru-chan, another game. Come on, let's play another game", a hyper and happy voice asked her.

"No, you are so merciless!"

"I…I was just so excited to play with you and to see how much you have improved; that move near the middle of the game at 10-5 was reallyyyyy great. I fell for it."

"You mean, you almost fell for it! After all, you still managed to escape from that trap."

"Still, it was a really great move. Then how about Shidou-Go?"

"No, it also makes me mad if you go easy on me."

"Hikaru-chaaaaan", whined her brother.

"How about I tell you about the new friends I made? You know that online website you showed me a couple of months ago in Kyoto? Well, I also joined and started playing Go with other opponents. And just like you suggested, I did not talk to any strangers. However, one time I looked down at the chatroom and saw that many players were comparing Sai-nii to Shusaku's Go. Don't you think that was cool? But there was also this really obnoxious player that said Sai-nii would loose if he played real pro players instead of people on the net. He also said that Shusaku was nothing. Can you imagine it? Anyways, many came to our defense, especially this username Zelda, who kept defending Sai-nii, Shusaku and eventually me when that annoying player included me in his tirade.

I got curious and decided to accept Zelda's invitation to play an online game. He is good too and he started talking to me even thought I never answered back at the beginning. He told me his name was Waya, how he was a middle school kid and that he was an insei. He also said how I reminded him of Honinbo Shusaku. After that, every time I went online, he would send me some recorded games of Shusaku's and how certain of my moves were just like his. He would also send me kifus of some of the games you have played online. He said nii-chan is really great and that you were like a modern version of Shusaku. Isn't that neat?

"Before I knew it, I responded to him and we started chatting. And then he also introduced me to some of his friends, Isumi and Nase. Before I knew it, we became friends and then they asked to meet in person."

"Hold right there. You met COMPLETE STRANGERS, BOYS?"

"Ouch, Sai-nii, you don't have to yell. Don't panic, I doubled checked on the Go Association website and found that there were really insei by the name of Waya, Isumi and Nase. On the day I met them, I also brought Akira with me. And we met during the day, right in front of the Go Association building. In fact, I also got a tour since Waya and Isumi had some trouble with the train and then…"

Sighing, Sai just let Hikaru go on and on. He knew he should not be so suspicious, at least his sister had confirmed the identity of the strangers before meeting them. And for all it was worth, she did bring Akira along and met in a public place. Also, it seemed she was finally interested in playing Go with different opponents, instead of just him.

* * *

**A/N: First wanted to clarify some confusion from the previous chapter. Since Isumi and Waya were going to be extremely late, Nase asked if Hikaru or Akira needed to be home soon. Right there and then, Hikaru called aunt Akiko and told her where she was and if they could stay late. She then passed her cell phone to Akira who said "Mother"…and from this conversation, Nase connected the dots and thought that Hikaru and Akira were cousins. And on this note, Hikaru's and Akira's school also thinks that they are related and neither confirms or denies the rumors since it is much more easier to let the school assume that then to explain why Hikaru was staying with the Toya.**

**Also, thank you all for reading. I had been really busy lately and haven't been able to update as much, so as an apology, the next chapter is not only going to be out in three days or less, but it would be much longer too! **


	10. Plan, execute and succeed?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 10 - Plan, execute and succeed?**

At the café shop across the street of the building where the International Amateur Go Tournament was going on, Waya and Akira set down to talk.

"Why does Hikaru not want anyone to know about her? I mean, you heard them talking right? They were saying that Hikaru was really good! They were even comparing her to a pro!", Waya inquired in a puzzled tone.

"We both know that Hikaru is talented at Go. Even so, she does not have any plans to join the Go world. She likes playing Go but does not see herself turning pro."

"What? Are you serious? Than the more reason we should have told the others about who she was. If she realizes how many people really want to actually meet her because of her skills, then she would…"

"She would not like that at all; having all these strangers crowding her. In fact, it might even have the opposite effect," Akira added vehemently.

"Why?"

"Look, in the past, there was this incident in where an adult pro scared her witless just because he _**suspected**_ she was really good at Go. Add to the fact that many people think she is related in one way or another to the online player _**Sai, **_she would be hounded not only for games but for information on the other player. She might even get fed up with it all and decide to never have anything to do with Go again."

"That bad…are you sure…?", Waya asked.

"I asked Hikaru previously why she played Go. And her answer had been _**'it's fun'**_. For us, it is also because it's fun but we can not picture ourselves doing anything but Go in the future. For Hikaru, it is different, she has plans to go to college and then work in a company."

"But…but that's such a waste!" Waya added indignantly. "And what about the years she must have spent learning and training like us?"

"Well…Hikaru has mentioned that she had learned Go as a child. However, due to some family circumstances she has not played Go with anyone else but her brother until she came to Japan. Also, she does not have a master and as far as I know, she does not even attend any Go study group or anything similar to that."

Silence reigned for a few minutes as Way digested the new information.

"But…we must do something. We can not just sit around and do nothing!", added Waya. As long as he could remember, he had always wanted to become a pro and had worked tirelessly, despite the many obstacles he had encountered, to become a Go professional. He just couldn't understand why someone as skilled as Hikaru would refuse to become a pro, when he himself would do anything to become one.

"Does her brother oppose her becoming pro? Since he has played with her, does he even realize how good she is? Is he a pro?"

"No, as far as I know, he loves her a lot and would do anything to make her happy. He is not a pro, but a businessman."

"Okay, so her brother is not against it. And since your father is the Meijin himself, he would not oppose it either. Then Hikaru herself is the problem?"

"I wouldn't say she is the problem. I think she just needs to be expose more to Go players and Go events. She needs to see that Go is interesting and fun enough to make a career out of it ."

"That's easy then. She just needs to attend more Go events, like today's ones. Then she can also see for herself the passion that each players has towards Go."

* * *

**Several weeks later…**

Hikaru thought it was odd how Akira and Waya had been taking turns dragging her to every Go event possible during the last few weekends. Today, both of them had taken her out to an Amateur Go Festival. There were Shidou-Go games, lectures, and even Go related items on sale.

"Hey Waya, when did you said Isumi's beginner's dan game is going to be on?"

"Next week. Want to go cheer him too?"

"Yes. It is so neat that he pass…" , a coughing fit stopped Hikaru from finishing her sentence.

"Hikaru, are you okay? Sheesh, where is Toya. It is taking him quite long to get you that tea. Hikaru, wait here and don't wander around, I would get you something to drink."

"No, it is okay…Waya…", sighing, Hikaru looked around. She was okay, it was just a cough that came and wait.

"_Ouch…that was bad…he is going to loose…what? his opponent didn't see it? Eek…protect, protect and protect before it's too late!", _thought Hikaru as she walked over to a nearby table and observed an ongoing game. After she noticed she was biting her nails since it was more nerve wracking watching an amateur game than the pro game Akira had taken her to last week, Hikaru wandered off to see what they were selling on the other side of the room.

On one side of the room, fans, stones, and gobans were set out for sale. And a salesman was trying to talk a man into buying a Kaya board.

"_I am telling you, this is a great price. And it's real Kaya. They say that you would learn better and faster if you play on a real Kaya board."_

"_I don't know. I am still an amateur and it's very expensive."_

"_But it is on sale now. It was 300,000 yen and now it is 200,000 yen. Think about it; it is a great deal for a real Kaya board."_

Hikaru frowned upon hearing the conversation going on between a customer and the salesman. Real Kaya? For some reason, it looked a bit odd to her; she walked closer and placed a stone on the board.

"Excuse me, mister. The sound is definitely different. This is not real Kaya."

"What are you doing punk! You can't place stone on a brand new board like that!", said the salesman agitatedly as he pushed Hikaru out of the way.

"But that's not real Kaya, it sounds different."

"Look punk, just because you are a girl does not mean we will go easy on you. If you keep this up, we will have you paid for the damaged product", said another older man, who seemed to be friends with the salesman.

"What's going on?", another man came over, but this one had an armband that proclaimed he was one of the event's staff member.

Five minutes later, Hikaru apologized to the staff member, "I am sorry, I won't place another stone on one of the boards on sale". However, her intentions of behaving were gone when she turned around and saw the man from before now trying to coax a new customer into buying a board for 6,000,000 yen; they were claiming it was signed by Honinbo Shusaku.

"What? That's a fake. That's not Shusaku's signature".

"Girl, you again! What are you talking about?", the same salesman yelled exasperatedly at Hikaru.

"It is the real thing."

"See? Even Gokiso-sensei says that's real. Why would a pro lie."

"Then you guys must be in cahoots!"

"Why you…", said the so called pro but before he could finish, the staff member reminded him that the sensei's Shidou-Go games were about to start.

"Listen kid. This is the real business, not just a children's game. You better stop meddling. Noone would believe anything you say", were the parting words of the man called Gokiso, before he headed the other way.

"_How could this be? They are so dishonest!" _Hikaru stewed over the incident after Ino-san, the staff member, had taken her away from the salesman. Ino-san had said he suspected there was something shady going on, but since he wasn't very familiar with Go boards, he couldn't really tell if they were lying or not, especially when a pro himself claimed he was wrong.

Whether it was bad luck or not, ten minutes later, Hikaru landed again near that Gokiso man's orbit; he was playing Shidou-Go with the customer who he had been trying to buy that fake Kaya board.

"My, my, you are so full of openings. See, you should have bought a better board and you might not be this bad."

Hikaru could barely keep her temper in check when she looked down at the board. "_Why, this wasn't Shidou-Go. That so called superior player was bullying a lesser player. That was just plain wrong!"._

"I guess I am done", the customer said dejectedly.

"Mister, don't give up yet. You can still win!", Hikau insisted.

"My, my, the kid behind you says you can still make a comeback. Why don't we continue."

"No, no. It's okay. Gokiso-sensei is a better player."

"Well, since you disagreed kid, why don't you seat down and play for him? Let's see if you can make a comeback. If you don't win, then you would leave this event" sneered Gokiso.

"Fine. But if I win, you would have to take down all those so called Kaya boards and also the one with Shusaku's fake signature."

"Only if you can win me, kid," replied Gokiso haughtily.

* * *

On another side of the room, Akira and Waya tried in vain to escape from Kurata-pro. The man had caught Akira while he had gone to get a drink for Hikaru and when Akira had spotted Waya, in an effort to get away from the pro, he had called out to Waya. Instead of letting them go, Kurata had signaled Waya to join them and somehow they had ended up here chatting with Kurata-san.

"Kurata-sensei is so nice," added an older man, who seemed to have been one of the people Kurata had been playing Shidou-Go with earlier.

"Yes, I should have signed up for Kurata-sensei's lesson as well. Instead, I got crushed by Gokiso-sensei's and was forced to resign. However, a little girl, who was standing behind me kept insisting that I could win and set down to play with him."

Both Akira and Waya had been trying to slowly inch away as Kurata was distracted by the customers praises. However, they both stopped dead in their tracks upon hearing what the second older man had said; all thoughts of escaping were gone upon hearing the customer talk about "a little girl" who had enough guts to challenge a pro.

"That's so horrible. I heard Gokiso-san was losing money on the stock market but he shouldn't take it out on his customers. But it would be nice if the little girl wins. How old did she look like? Still, no matter what, for her to win it would mean she is stronger that a pro", observed Kurata.

"Around one of my grandchildren age, maybe 11? Still, she is quite tinny; a couple of inches shorter than these two young men here", the customer from before added as he waved at Waya and Akira.

"Oh, you are the one who was playing that game with Gokiso-sensei. Do you know that girl who sat down after you left, turned the game around and won", added a new voice.

"What? No way…", Kurata added before he rushed off in the direction the customer was pointing at. And not far behind, Akira and Waya followed him.

* * *

"This is…it can't be…it is only because I did not take you seriously…"

"What happened?", asked Kurata as he approached to see a pretty disturbed Gokiso-san.

"Ha, ha. Nothing much, I just played an embarrassing game. You would laugh if you had seen it," Gokiso replied as he moved his stones back to the bowl and thus messed up the game on the board, so that noone else could see the shapes the stones had formed.

"A game that I would laugh at? I would have liked to see it," murmured Kurata.

"Don't forget your promise!", Hikaru called out as the pro left.

"Promise? Have I seen you before?", asked Kurata as he stared at Hikaru.

"Hikaru!", both Akira and Waya exclaimed upon catching up with Kurata; they had both been right, _'the little girl' _was Hikaru.

"Hey, Akira, Waya. What took you guys so long? Actually, give me a minute, I need to make sure that pro keeps his promise."

"What promise?", all three, Akira, Kurata and Waya asked at the same time.

"Here on the other side of the room…", Hikaru started as she headed over to the counterfeit table of gobans.

"Kurata-sensei! What are you doing here?", exclaimed the salesman when he spotted them stopping by.

"Did you said this was Kaya?", Kurata asked as he squinted at the sign.

"Ha, ha. No, of course not. How could this have happened? Some kid must have been playing a prank and switched the signs. Here, this is the correct sign," the man added as he switched the signs and placed one which definitely identified the _so called _Kaya board, as _not_ real Kaya.

"But didn't you already sold some of them?"

"Well…"

"You can give me the names of those customers and I will contact them," added Ino-san, the staff member who had joined them upon seeing a commotion near this table.

"And you have to take down that fake board with Shusaku's signature. That pro from before promised to do it," Hikaru added as she pointed to the board.

"What Shusaku board?", asked Kurata as he turned to stare at the board in question.

"No, it is a fake one. That's not Shusaku's signture!", Hikaru stated with conviction.

"Not Shusaku's? I am not familiar with Shusaku's writing. How about you boys?"

Both Waya and Akira shook their heads.

"I have seen his signature. My brother has one and this signature looks totally different from the one I have seen."

"Your brother has one? Maybe his is fake?", inquired Kurata.

"No! Brother would never lied about Shusaku. This is a fake one," Hikaru stated vehemently.

"Hm…since you are sure."

"Hey, remove this signed board. And do you have any papers proving that your products are legitimate?", added Ino-san. He was glad that another pro, Kurata-sensei, had finally intervened.

"Girl, you are funny. I would never have pegged you as a Shusaku calligraphy expert. Also, I wouldn't be too happy about beating Gokiso-san, he is just a washed up pro."

"Akira, Waya, who is this guy?", murmured Hikaru in a quiet voice.

"What? You don't know me? I am Kurata, the pro player, the future Meijin, Honinbo and many more titles."

"Oh, are you that strong, Kurata-san?". Waya could just have hit his head against a table when Hikaru asked this innocently. She really needed to expand her knowledge of the pro world and its players.

"Haha. I am pretty strong, and beating the top is not too hard since most of the players at the top are barely hanging on to their titles. Toya Meijin's is at his peak, but the same can't be said about the rest. Kuwabara-san is just pretending to be confident but he is barely holding on to his Honinbo title; he is using mind games and other tricks to hold on to that title, but sooner or later, either me, Ogata, or another younger pro will win it. For me, the really scary guys are coming from beneath; the younger players, like you guys here. The battle at the bottom would be to the _**death**_."

Hikaru blinked at all this new information, while Akira and Waya blushed at the compliment that Kurata-san had just given them.

"Which reminds me, Akira when are you turning pro?", Kurata switched to Akira.

"I…next year".

"Hm…next year. It would be fun. Also, how about you, little girl? What is your name and are you also aiming to be a pro?"

"My name is Fujiwara Hikaru and about becoming a pro, I am also taking the pro exam next year like Waya and Akira. And if I pass, then I guess I will be a pro, too."

"You are what? Really?", both Akira and Waya asked simultaneously.

"Fujiwara, Waya and Toya. I will keep my eyes and ears open for you guys next year. Good luck in your exams."

* * *

**A/N: What does everyone think? Waya does not really like Akira, but since both of them have a common goal, he decided to call a truce.**

**I want to also thank everyone so much for reading and commenting. Hopefully everyone has enjoyed this chapter…**


	11. Results of Akira’s and Waya’s plan?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 11 - Results of Akira's and Waya's plan?**

"Yeah, I am going to take the pro exam next year, too. I thought I had told you guys before?", inquired Hikaru as she blew on her noodles. After the Go event, they had gone to a restaurant for noodles.

"Nope. I am sure we would have remembered", Waya added as he swallowed the noodles he had been chewing. Also, if he had _**known**_ about Hikaru's plan, for one thing, he would _**not**_ have had spent as much time with Toya Akira as he had done so in the past few months.

"You didn't mention it. What made you change your mind?", asked Akira as he took a sip of water while waiting for his noodles to cool a bit more.

"Hm…Many things. You can even say that yours and Waya's passion for Go is contagious. Plus I realized that playing Go with others and not just with my brother is very fun. Also, I have talked to my nii-chan and he said I should at least tried to take the pro exam. Even if I take it, I would not necessary pass. And even if I pass, I can also be a pro and still go to college."

Choking on Hikaru's "I would not necessary pass" comment, Waya thumped his chest. _If Hikaru did not pass, then who would?_

"There are pro's who are lawyers, bankers and doctors and many other professions, so having a double career is not impossible," added Akira.

"Exaclty! Nii-chan said the same thing. I promised him that I would go to high school but I also want to go to college."

"College? Why? Even pro's who don't win titles can still make a living by doing other Go related things, such as teaching Go one-on-one, in groups, in conventions, and so much more", added Waya.

Hikaru nodded as she took another bite of her noodles. This place was pretty good, she made a mental note to bring Sai-nii here when he finally moved to Tokyo.

"I know that. But I also want to help brother with the company. If I help too, then his work would be lighter and he wouldn't have to be so busy all the time."

* * *

**The next day in the Toyas' residence…**

"Did something happen?" inquired Toya Koyo, as he set down his stone and observed his son. This morning, just like always, he was playing Go with Akira and for a while he had noticed the chances in him. His son was a hard worker and talented, but until a year and a half ago, he had feared his son's Go was going to become stale due to the lack of a rival; an opponent of the same age, someone who could challenge, push and pull him to become better. And now during the last few weeks, Akira had launched himself into studying Go with a renewed passion as if he was chasing someone and did not even want to stop to catch his breath.

A bit surprised, Akira looked up from the board and at his father. The last time his father had asked him why he had delayed taking the pro exam, he had told him that he "had to do something before he could continued with Go and eventually reach the Hand of God".

"Father, I will be ready to take the pro exam this summer".

"That's good. So you were able to find your Go rival?", calmly inquired his father as he made another move that sealed the left corner off.

Akira was silent for a moment, _how did his father even know about that_?, "Yes father. Not only a rival, but someone my age who I must beat to be able to climb to the top of the Go world. But father…"

"Yes?"

"Is it normal to envy but at the same time voluntary spend time with your rival doing something else but playing Go? Can you be afraid of that person's skill but at the same time admire it greatly?"

"Akira, humans feel greatly. Our emotions varies depending on the situation and there is no right or wrong answer. However, it is normal to envy others as long as that envy does not get carried away to such an extent that you would purposely wish to harm someone. I don't think your envy is bad, in a way it seems to be helping you."

Silence followed that comment as Akira thought about it; being defeated by Hikaru had actually spurred his spirit and made him work even harder in Go. However, when he had learned she had no intention of joining the Go world, Akira at first had been downright shocked. His rival had finally arrived but then in the blink of an eye, his rival was almost snatched away.

"Also, Akira, is this person just a rival? Isn't it more like a friend as well?"

_A friend?, _thought Akira. Akira had grown up an only child and because he had always taken Go seriously since a young age, he had barely had time to hang out with children his own age. And when the whirlwind who was Hikaru arrived, at first, he did not know what to think. He had been excited, nervous and afraid to find another child who was not only good, but even better than him at Go. And to top it off, said child was not very keen on turning pro despite her amazing talents. It had thrown Akira in a loop; he had seen Hikaru as a wall that he had to climb in order to be able to move forward and eventually be the best in Go. Eventually, Hikaru had become a friend. _No_, Akira corrected himself, not just a friend but also family.

* * *

**The same day but during lunchtime at Waya's house…**

Waya thought back on the conversation they had after attending that last Go event; it made him look back at himself and his family in a new light. He looked up from his bowl of rice and across the table at his parents and older brother. His mother was a house-wife and his father an accountant; none of them had any previous ties or interest in Go until their second and youngest son had declared his love of Go at a very young age. None of them had thought it was silly, but instead had supported him throughout the years, even when he did not pass the pro exam the first time, or the second or even the third time. They might not have understood his fascination with Go but knew it was very important for him. His parents only request was for him to at least finish high school.

He had refused to listen to them and his intentions had been to finish junior high as soon as possible, turn pro and then move out of the house so as not to hear his parents constant nagging about furthering his education. However, when he thought about Hikaru, her goals and her complex family situation, he realized he was really lucky.

_What would he feel like if the only immediate family he had left was just his brother? If his parents were gone just like Hikaru's, would Waya regret not listening to them? Regret not telling them how much their trust and support in him meant? Would he regret not even trying to fulfill his parents request to get into high school?_

Clearing his throat, Waya asked, "Nii-san, do you think I can borrow those reference books you used to study for your high school entrance exam?"

His father's chopsticks froze halfway to his mouth, a piece of fish dangling from them. While his mother just held onto the second serving of rice she had been in the middle of giving to her older son. And Waya's nii-san just blinked and re-adjusted his glasses.

* * *

**Later in the afternoon, at Kaio Junior High…**

Not realizing what she had inadvertently done, Hikaru at that time had just kicked in a goal, and it was just in time since the whistle was blown for the end of the practice game.

"Wow, chibi, you are really good. If only you could play in official matches…", said one of the senpai of the football (soccer) club as her temporary teammates separated from the celebratory group hug.

"Maybe we should have her disguised as a boy and play in games," said another senpai who was currently lying down on the grass. It had been a tough game and they had been winning until Hikaru had scored that last goal and tied the game 2-2.

The football club had a game coming up and were even practicing today, when there was no class; she had stopped by to play a bit with them and to bring them some drinks and snacks as rewards for working so hard. Although she had not been able to join the club officially since there was no girl's soccer club, the boys still told her to come by anytime she wanted to.

"Good job everyone. Now do some stretches, then a shower and then home," announced the second-year captain as he noticed most of his teammates still lying around.

"Yes, captain," chorused everyone.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay everyone. Many things have happened, including a close family member who had an accident, so I was too worried and busy to update.**

**This chapter is like part 2 of the last chapter; I wanted to also show a bit of how Hikaru had unintentionally influenced Akira and Waya. **


	12. Where is Sai?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 12 - Where is Sai?**

Akiko hummed to herself as she took the green-tea cookies she had just baked out of the oven. She chuckled to herself when she heard Hikaru pacing back and forth in the living the room; the girl had been on pins and needles since this morning.

Hikaru wasn't nervous and excited because Christmas was going to be in five days, but because her older brother was going to arrive today in Japan. Ever since Hikaru had found out such good news she had been counting down every single hour and now minute until today arrived. If her brother had not refused to allow Hikaru to go and pick him up, she was sure the young girl would have camped out bright and early at the airport.

Fifteen minutes later, carrying a tray of hot drinks and freshly baked cookies, Akiko headed to the living room.

"…sorry Akira, I really can't concentrate", she heard before she saw Hikaru and Akira. Both were seated on the sofa with a deck of cards between them.

Akira looked up with a sort of relief when he saw her enter; it seemed her son was trying to do his best to distract Hikaru and was running out of ideas.

"Does anyone want some cookies, hot chocolate or tea?", she asked as she sat down the tray on the coffee table.

Hikaru smiled absently at her and added a "No, thank you", which resulted in Akira blinking a couple of times out of surprise; Akira had never heard Hikaru say "No" to sweets.

"Honey, don't worry so much, your brother would be here soon. Why don't you and Akira play another game to pass the time? Watch TV? We still have more than an hour until his plane lands and about another hour or so before he makes it home."

"I…uhm…am too nervous, and excited and…and…what if he doesn't come?", added Hikaru as she rose to once again resume her previous pacing.

"Don't worry, he called us yesterday night to let us know that he was boarding the plane."

"Then what happens if the plane had to turn back because there is too much snow? It is still snowing a lot. And maybe brother also took the wrong plane? He could be anywhere now!"

Akiko set down and poured two cups of tea and a cup of chocolate. She passed Akira his tea and seeped on her own as she set down across her son, "Hikaru, there is not that much snow. And you brother won't get lost, he is not a child and…"

_That_ got her attention and stopped Hikaru dead in her tracks. "Aunty, you don't know my brother. Did I ever told about that time when we went…"

* * *

Akira finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing his mother. He had tried everything he could think of to distract Hikaru. He had tried playing Go with her, cards and had even suggested studying for school, and much more; but every time she would either decline or not be able to concentrate on what she was doing for more than a couple of minutes.

Three days ago, Akira had woken up to a scream. One minute he was setting down a Go stone that would surely have won him the game in his dream and then the next thing, he had fell out of bed in his rush to get to the door and see what was happening downstairs. He wasn't sure what he would find downstairs, maybe a thief? someone fainted? spiders? But one thing for sure he did not expect to find was Hikaru dancing around with what he assumed happiness, then kissing and hugging his mother non-stop. After the commotion died down, and more hugs, kisses and even more jumping out of joy on Hikaru's part, did Akira find out that her brother was coming over for the holidays.

Ever since that day, Hikaru had seemed to be injected with even more boundless energy than usual. And today she had been a wreck until his mother had finally come in and successfully distracted her. In a way, he didn't really understand why Hikaru was so nervous. It was true that she hadn't see her brother for a while, but from the way Hikaru was acting it seemed more like she hadn't seen him for years. However, no matter what, he was also happy for her; he knew Hikaru had been content living with them during the last year and a half. His parents treated Hikaru and Akira as both their children. In fact, sometimes Akira thought that his mother spoiled Hikaru more, but he was fine with it.

First, he was lucky to have both parents, while Hikaru had lost hers at a very young age. Unlike Hikaru, he didn't have to move to a new and foreign country, live with strangers and then not be able to see her only living relative for months. If Akira had been in Hikaru's shoes, he didn't know if he could have dealt as well with the situation as she had done. Also, because of Hikaru, for the first time in his life, he had sort of a friend and a Go rival that was the same age as him; he had always been around adults and had a hard time connecting with his classmates and children his age.

His mother quiet laugh broke Akira out of his musings; he shook his head and re-focused on the present, on the story that Hikaru was telling about her brother.

* * *

**A week earlier, in a US city…**

"Robert, thank you. You can leave now and head home as well."

"Yes, thank you sir. Have a good evening," said a neatly dressed young man as he sat down a tray with drinks for his boss and his guest.

"Samuel, do you want anything to drink?", asked Sai as he poured himself a cup of coffee. He knew he shouldn't have caffeine this late in the day, but it had been a tiring day and he needed the extra boost of energy.

Taking a seat, the older man declined the drink offer and faced the young man who was seated across from him. Samuel had been working as a lawyer for his current boss's father for ten years before the man had been killed; he had seen the _**Sakura Industry **_rise out of nothing and reaching the top before the untimely death of the previous CEO and owner. At first, there had been quite a commotion on who would run the company since his children, his sole heirs, were both too young to take over; the son had just graduated from high school while the daughter had just started primary school. And to make matters even worse, there were no guardians set in place for both children or the company since the father probably didn't think he would died so young. Both children did not have any close blood relatives due to both their parents having no brothers or sisters, although their grandmother, on their mother's side did re-married into another family and left them with a step-family as their closest relatives.

The _**Smith**_, the so called step-family, had not wasted time upon the children father's death and had taken guardianship of them claiming their flimsy connection to the mother made them relatives. And in turn, they had also taken over _**Sakura Industry **_and slowly tried to bleed it out of money. Samuel had protested and in turn was fired but Sai had hired him again not long after he took over the company.

"They have filed another appeal to the court to have your sister's guardianship awarded to them on the basis that you are too young and too busy to take care of a child."

"So they have finally given up the idea to convince the court that I am legally insane?"

Samuel couldn't help but snort at _that_, "Yes, apparently they or their lawyers finally realized that their chances of having you declared legally incompetent were less than zero. After all, no judge in their right mind would think someone who was able to bring a company that was heading to its death back to one that is making more than 500 millions per year."

"But you don't have to worried about that appeal either. All their claims are null when we prove to the judge that during the years that your sister were in their care, all they did was keep her almost a prisoner in a small town with no company but the old couple and tutors who came to the house. So their ability to take care of a child would also…"

Samuel wasn't able to finish his sentence since Sai had that moment slammed his cup of coffee down on the table and dark violet-colored eyes stared fiercely at him, "I won't _**ever**_ allow them near Hikaru, not _**even**_ over my dead body."

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone, I know the chapters are shorter than usual, but I have been having a hard time writing due to being too busy and worried. I will tried to update the next chapter asap.**

**Still, hope everyone liked this chapter.**


	13. Sai is here!

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 12 - Sai is here!**

"Sai-nii!", Hikaru yelled as she launched herself straight into her brother's open arms.

"Let me see. My hime-chan has grown taller and prettier", Sai said as he set her down after twirling her around and around.

"Aunt", Sai nodded at Akiko. Toya Koyo was out of town due to a Go event, but was going to be back home 3 days later.

"And this must be Akira-kun, I have heard so many things about you from Hikaru."

"Nice to meet you, Fujiwara-san."

"Oh, don't be so formal. You can just call me Sai-nii as Hikaru does. And I will also take this opportunity to thank you for always looking out for my baby sister."

"It is no bother and I didn't really looked out that much for Hikaru."

"See? I think the only one who needs to be looked out is Sai-nii. Have you been eating properly? 3 meals a day? Skipping any?"

Laughing at Hikaru's motherly tone, Sai reply, "Of course I have. Did you forgot that when we moved together, I was the one who always cooked dinner? And _**I**_ was the one who had to always remind you to always eat your meals?"

Hikaru's only response was to stick out her tongue at her brother.

"Hikaru why don't you show your brother where his room is at?"

A couple of minutes later, Hikaru bounced on a bed while her brother unpacked. Aunt Akiko had re-decorated the upper level of the house and the bedrooms now resembled the ones found in many western rooms; a mattress, bedpost, nightstand, etc.

"Nii-chan, how long are you going to be able to stay?"

"My plane leaves on the 3rd day of the new year." Turning around just in time to see the quick flare of sadness in his sister green eyes, Sai kneeled in front of her and held her hands.

"I am sorry I can't stay longer, business…"

"I know, don't worry about it. I understand. But would you be able to move headquarters to Tokyo soon?"

"Soon," replied Sai as he hugged her. They both knew soon was going to take a least a couple of months if not years, but both did not wish to voice anything that would make the other even more sad.

"Anyways, Hikaru, look at what I brought!"

Doing her best to give him her biggest smile, Hikaru looked over at the big luggage that her brother had just opened. Under some of his clothes, there were tons of brightly colored wrapped boxes; there were small, medium and even a couple of big ones. Curiosity getting the better of her, Hikaru picked one up and shook it. "What are they?"

One hand on his waist and the other shaking a finger at her, Sai said sternly, "You can't open any of them." Giving up his façade of sternness, Sai added playfully, "At least not until you help me bring all of this downstairs."

Expecting Hikaru to start picking up as many boxes as she could, Sai was surprised when Hikaru headed out of the room and at the top of the stairs yelled, "Akira, can you come up for a minute?"

* * *

Akira was caught off guard upon finally meeting Hikaru's older brother. For some reason, he had expected to meet an older and more mature version of the one from the photos Hikaru had shown her. The man was dressed in a simple black shirt and jeans and looked even younger than in pictures; his hair was long and dark and tied in a ponytail, he had a constant happy expression and sometimes even seemed more childish than Hikaru, like right now.

"One, two and three", both Hikaru and Sai announced at the same time.

Hikaru and Sai were currenlty playing rock, paper and scissors; they were fighting over the last slice of chocolate cake left.

"Yes, I won!", yelled Hikaru. She grabbed the last piece of cake left and not being able to ignore her brother's pouting, Hikaru made a quick decision and split the piece in half and gave it to him.

Sporting a huge smile, Sai gave her a choking hug. "I love Hikaru the most, she is the best sister ever!"

"Yes, yes, I love you too," Hikaru added with a smile and a hug too.

Ten minutes later, after the last crumb of cake was eaten, Akiko shooed everyone out of the kitchen.

"Come on, out, all of you out. You guys can help me next time." They had wanted to wash the dishes but she had refused, fearing that in their current hyper state (all thanks to the chocolate cake she had baked), most likely than not, all of her dishes would be broken.

"What should we do?", asked Sai as he leaned most of his weight against Hikaru. They were currently seated in one of the living room's sofa and 10 minutes after such a good meal, he went from full and energized to full and sleepy.

"Do you think we have enough snow to built snowmen?", asked Hikaru.

"There should be enough, but it is snowing a lot more now. And it is getting colder, so we are not going out and having you get sick. How about we watch the some of the movies I brought?," suggested Sai.

"Nah, we can do that another time. Akira, any ideas?"

"Huh?…Uhm..I was thinking about heading upstairs and finishing some of my winter homework", added Akira. He had thought that Hikaru had wanted to spend more time with her brother and was going to make himself scarce.

"Akira, we can do homework later. Let's be lazy. How about we play some of the video games nii-san brought? They are the latest games and some of them are not even available for the general public to buy yet!"

"But we only have two game controllers," Akira reminded her.

"Oh," was all a deflated Hikaru could say.

"We can play some cards?", suggested Akira.

"No way!", was Hikaru's quick response. Upon seeing Akira's surprised reaction, Hikaru explained, "Brother has the best of lucks. No matter how good your hand is, brother always, and I mean _**always**_ has a better hand than you. If you have a _flush_, you can bet brother would have a _full house. _And if you have a _full house _then you can bet he has a _straight flush_ or if you have that as well, _**then**_ you can bet he would have a _royal flush_! Trust me Akira, you don't and I mean, you really really really don't want to play cards with brother."

"Oh, Hikaru is just exaggerating. As proof, we can play some cards and see", offered Sai.

Seeing Hikaru shake her head furiously at him, Akira decided to politely decline as well, even thought Akira himself was the one who had originally suggested card games.

"Oh, but before that, nii-san do you want to take a nap?", asked Hikaru when she noticed him trying to suppress another yawn.

"No. I have been in a plane for more than 10 hours so the last thing I want is to sleep."

"Then how about Go?", Hikaru turned to her brother and added, "Uncle Koyo has this room where he meets with some of his students on a weekly basis and discusses Go. Last time, uncle said that I could use the room anytime I wanted. And there are tons of boards, so nii-san can play against me and Akira at the same time. I mean, if Akira wants to play as well?"

At the mention of "Go", Sai set up straighter and with sparkling eyes turned to Akira, "You would play right? Right?"

Not having a reason to refuse, Akira readily agreed as well. It seemed he had found another person who seemed to love Go as much as him. However, Akira was a bit hesitant as he helped Hikaru set up the boards together while her brother was making a quick call on his cell. _Was her brother really going to play Go with him and Hikaru at the same time? Was it fair? Both he and Hikaru were good enough to be pro's and it seemed as if they were bullying an amateur if they played against her brother at the same time._

As if reading his thoughts, Hikaru whispered, "Akira, don't be surprised but you have to be on your guard. Brother may seem silly but he is really good at Go. Dividing his attention between two games is nothing for him. Trust me, he won't go easy on us at all. Although it is highly unlikely that we will be able to beat him, still we won't know for sure until we tried. So give it your best. Fight as if your life depended on it."

With that strange warning and Sai's ending his call, they all set down to play Go. Hikaru and Akira set next to each other, a board in front of each of them, while Sai set across from them.

Three clear "_onegaishimasu" _sounded, signaling the beginning of the games.

* * *

**A/N: Hi, I wanted to thank everyone so much for reading and reviewing - and please continue to do so since it encourages me to keep writing.**

**Also, it might seem a bit silly for Hikaru to not want to play card games with her brother but yet still want to play Go with him. In Hikaru's mind, luck plays a big role in card games, while Go is more about skills. Also, more fluff coming up, after all Sai is going to be in Japan for about 2 weeks.**


	14. A bit about the Fujiwara's siblings Go…

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

**Chapter 14 - A bit about the Fujiwara's siblings Go…**

"_So give it your best. Fight as if your life depended on it."_

During the first game, Furjiwara-san had beaten both of them just as Hikaru had predicted. Akira had sort of taken her advice to heart, but not even in his wildest dream could Akira have seen this coming. At first, he had thought that due to Hikaru's praises, her brother was indeed good but not this good. After all, he was not a professional Go player like his father, but an amateur and a man who worked as a businessman for a living. To his shock, before Akira realized Sai had started to control the board. No matter where Akira attacked, Sai deflected effortlessly. No matter how Akira defended, any territory that Sai wanted he would get it. And to top it off, the man was able to do all this while playing with two players.

He would set a stone down on Akira's board and then move on and do the same on Hikaru's board. Back and forth, back and forth, and back and forth. It was all seamless and Sai didn't even seem to need much time to think before placing any of his own stones down. Eventually, Akira and Hikaru resigned.

Akira had been so thunderstruck that he had right away demanded another game from Hikaru's brother. And now they were playing it, but this time with just two players.

"_**Pachi"**_

Akira looked down at the stone that Sai had set down. He furrowed his brows, wracking his brain trying to find out why the man had chosen that particular spot. He couldn't think of a reason, as far as Akira knew, it wasn't an offensive or defensive move. His eyes went wide when he realized that Sai was actually testing him. With a determined look, Akira held the stone even tighter in his hand. He knew Hikaru's brother Go was way above his and in fact on par with his own father, the Meijin. However, Akira was not going to give in easily either. He would make Sai fight even harder then during their first game.

* * *

Akira wiped the sweat off his face. He just needed to endure a bit more. If he could hold on a bit longer, just a bit, than the bottom left corner would be his.

"_**Pachi"**_

"_**Pachi"**_

"_**Pachi"**_

"_**Pachi"**_

"_**Pachi"**_

The sounds of the stones being set down on the board continued on and on. Akira breathed a sigh of relief when the fight for the bottom left corner finally ended. However, he noticed too late that while he had been fighting for that small corner, more than half the board belonged to Sai now. He tried to think as hard as he could, to try to read as far ahead as possible. No matter where he looked, no matter where he imagined he placed a stone, all led to one outcome; Sai was going to win. Still, Akira held on for just a bit longer…

Ten minutes later, Akira admitted aloud, "I have nothing".

"Akira, you should be proud. It was a very well fought game. Do you want to discuss it?"

"Yes, please."

* * *

**Half an hour later…**

"Fujiwara-san, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, and call me Sai-nii."

"Why do you not turn professional? You are stronger than a lot of pros I know. In fact, you are probably as strong as father."

"Thank you but I am currently happy with the way things are".

Akira had wanted to ask more, but felt that it would have been inappropriate if he pursued the subject more. "I know it is a selfish request, but before you leave, may I ask you to play at least another game with me?"

"No problem but on one condition, that you continue to help take care of Hikaru while I am not here".

And at the same time, they both turned to look at Hikaru. After Akira had asked for a second game, Hikaru had switched seats and sat next to her brother, and then soon fell sleep while Akira and Sai battled over a Go board. Her head was pillowed on her brother's leg while his jacket covered most of her. Akira wasn't surprised that she had fallen sleep, he suspected Hikaru had barely slept last night.

"I haven't helped much. But even without you asking, I will still do my best to look out for her. You both are like family to us."

Upon hearing Akira say that, Sai bestowed a brilliant smile on him, "Thank you Akira, you don't know how much that means to Hikaru and I. Has chibi here told you much about her past?"

"Uhm…just that both your parents passed away while she was very young."

"Yes, Hikaru was barely five when father died. Not knowing much, I allowed them to separate Hikaru and I. It wasn't until she was 11 that I managed to reunite with her. For almost 6 years, Hikaru was forced by mother's step-family to leave on the outskirts of a small college town and with noone but an old Japanese couple as companions. She wasn't even allowed to attend school but was home-schooled. They didn't even bother to hired professors or teachers but instead choice to hire any college student whose fees were the cheapest.

Clearing his throat, Sai continued, "Hikaru must have been so lonely during those years, but she hasn't even once told me she hated me for allowing that to happen. Taking all that has happened to her into account, it is a wonder she had grow up to be such a sweet and good kid. You don't know what I would be willing to give up just to be able to go back in time and fix it all."

Silence followed for a few minutes as Akira tried to process all this new information while Sai just kept stroking Hikaru's hair, which seemed to bring him comfort, as if to reassure the man that she was really there.

Hoping to re-assure her brother that things were better now, all Akira could come up with was, "Hikaru gets along very well with everyone now. All our classmates like her a lot and just last week, senpais from the cooking club stopped by just to share some of the snacks they baked with her."

"That's good. I heard from Hikaru that although she is not an official member in any club, many of her school clubs still welcome her when she stops by. To tell you the truth, I was quite surprised when Hikaru told me she was thinking about joining her school's Go club. I was expecting her to join the soccer club since she is so good at it thanks to all the solo ball kicking she did when she had noone to play with her."

At the mention of their school's Go club, Akira couldn't help but blush a bit in embarrassment. "About the club…uhm…it was my fault that she left it…I did not get along very well with some of the club members, so Hikaru decided to leave with me."

From Hikaru, Sai knew what had happened at their school's Go club but he decided not to bring it all up and embarrass Akira even more, instead he chose to distract him, "Did you know that Hikaru started playing Go after she moved in with me?"

Grateful that Sai didn't ask more about the Go club incident and that he was talking about something Akira had been interested in for a while, Hikaru's Go, "No wonder Hikaru is so good at Go if you were her teacher."

"Akira, let me ask you, what do you think about Hikaru's Go?"

"Her Go is mixed and sometimes confusing. She uses old and modern tactics. But after playing with you, I can also say that her Go has pieces of your Go."

"Yes, and what else?"

"I also thought I saw traces of Honinbo Shusaku in both of your Go."

"Ever since I was small, I have liked Go. Father noticed my interest in the game and hired many Go professionals to teach and play with me. And since then I have also study many past Go master's kifus and their techniques, especially Honinbo Shusaku's. However, chibi here has refused to play Go with anyone else but me after I re-taught her the basics; she wouldn't mind seating in and observing me playing with other people, but always refused to play with anyone else. If she wasn't playing with me, then she would study the collection of Shusaku's kifus that I have at home. After a while, I notice Hikaru incorporate some of Shusaku's favorite moves along with her own crazy moves to her Go."

"Before you ask Akira, no I don't think Hikaru is just playing Go to make me happy. At first, I thought the same, but then I remembered a three year old Hikaru seating quietly and observing many of the games I played with others. Did she told you that when she plays Go, she feels as if she is creating a universe? The board is the space and the stones are the planets and stars? Hikaru truly does love Go but I had to pretty much push and prod her to agreed to take the pro exam. Hikaru is too selfless to go her own way and if left alone, she would choose to help me run our company and give up Go. She has given up and had so much taken away from her, and I just want her to be happy."

* * *

**A/N: Hi, hope everyone liked this chapter; I wanted everyone to know more about Hikaru's and Sai's past. Also for those that are curious, I have Sai saying **_**"re-taught" **_**Hikaru Go because at one point, before their father's death, Sai did try to teach Hikaru the game and when she moved back with him, he **_**"taught" **_**her Go again.**

**Also, to clarify, Hikaru is not really scare of playing with strangers. In fact, because of her lonely childhood, she likes people (which is why she gets along with so many people now). At first, Hikaru is reluctant to play Go with anyone because she saw Go as one of the few things that connected her to her brother. However, with the passage of time and Sai's behavior, she slowly started seeing that her brother loved her regardless of whether or not she liked Go. Sai suspected this but he also did not realize that Hikaru had eventually overcome her fear and only refused to play with others because for her, it was more fun seeing her brother play than herself playing with others while her brother was with her. And by watching her brother play with others, it allowed Hikaru to study and learn about her brother's and his opponents Go, and after each game she would always ask her brother why he did certain moves and not something else. **

**Hope it all makes sense. And I will try to upload the next chapter within three days from now.**


	15. Hanging out with Sai

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 15 - Hanging out with Sai**

"--chan, Hikaru-channnnn, wake up!"

"Hm…5 more minutes, just 5 more…", was mumbled out from under the covers.

Lavender eyes sparkled mischievously as the owner of those eyes thought about the many pranks he could do to wake her.

…_cold water? No, it was too cold and Hikaru could get sick…_

…_yell really loud by her ear? Hm…not a bad idea…_

…_or even better, tickled her to death…_

Ten minutes after Sai had volunteered to go up and wake Hikaru, a loud shriek of laughter could be heard. "I give up…I am getting up, stop" …more giggles…."Ok…I will say it…Sai-nii rules, stop"…more giggles.

Akiko and Akira looked at each other and just shook their heads, trust Sai to be able to wake Hikaru up so fast.

* * *

**The day after Christmas…**

Currently, Akira, Hikaru and Sai were just hanging out in the mall. Today in the morning, his mother had wanted to get some errands done and had told the kids, meaning Akira, Hikaru and Sai, to go out and entertain themselves. She had also told them that there was no hurry for them to come back since she and father were going on a date and won't be back home until later tonight.

Therefore, after breakfast, they had gone out and watched a movie and since it was still a bit too early to get lunch yet, they decided to explore the mall a bit. Soon Sai got caught up by all the glittering decorations around the mall and had wanted to check out each store to see what they offered.

"How about this one?", Sai asked them as he held out a frilly pink dress.

Hikaru's only response was to raise her left eyebrow. Sai then turned to Akira for support, but all he could do was shake his head at it as well. To Akira's eyes, the yards and yards of pink ruffles made the dress look even more awful than it should; in fact, it looked as if the ruffles might come alive and strangle whoever was brave enough to wear it.

Something that sounded suspiciously like a sniffle could be heard as Hikaru next refused to tried a mustard yellow dress.

"Sai-nii, stop playing around. I know you have better taste. And you have already bought me dresses last year."

"Only a few, and I bought them before you grew a bit taller."

Sighing, Hikaru conceded, "I will get the next one if you are more serious about it. More importantly, how about this? It would keep you warm for sure". The hat, scarf and gloves that Hikaru was holding up were made of sturdy and warm material, and the color and pattern weren't bad either. The gloves were black while the hat and scarf although black as well, had in addition dark purple lines running in a horizontal shape on them.

Two hours laters, Sai had Akira write down his home address once again so that the store could send their packages home. They hadn't bought much, but having the merchandise sent home was easier then dragging bags around the mall, especially since they weren't planning to go home until they had dinner outside as well.

Finally, they headed towards the food court.

"So what do you guys want for lunch?", asked Sai.

"Noodles!", was Hikaru's first response. Akira must have shown something on his face, since Sai laughed after looking at him and told Hikaru maybe next time. Akira breathed a quiet sigh of relief; it wasn't that he hated noodles, it was just that Hikaru had only wanted to eat noodles during the last few times they had eaten out. Akira just needed a small break from them before he started having nightmares of being chased by bowls of noodles.

At the end, they chose to go for deep dish pizza after they found out that Akira had never had it before. In fact, Hikaru and Sai had been shocked and then both siblings had proceeded to drag Akira to the nearest pizzeria.

"So how is it?", Hikaru asked him as she set down the slice of pizza she had just taken a bite of.

Setting his fork and knife down, Akira replied, "It is actually quite good. What did you said it was?"

"Deep dish pizza with pepperoni, mushroom, olives and green pepper, topped with extra cheese," added Sai before taking a big bite out of his own slice.

"Akira, here have another slice," Hikaru held out a second piece to him.

"Thank you, you can just drop it on my plate."

Sighing, Hikaru snatched his utensils away and told him, "You have to try eating pizza with just your hands like nii-san and I are doing. Trust me, it makes it taste even better. Say 'ah'."

Akira could swear he turned several shades of red as he heard murmurs and giggles from nearby tables. Before he could say anything, Sai intervened, "Ahhh, here Hikaru, I want to be fed too."

With Hikaru turning to her brother, Akira quickly grabbed a slice from the middle of the table and ate it with just his hand before Hikaru had time to get back on his case. He looked around and noticed that the place was getting quite busy; there were tables full of teenagers, families, and couples. He cocked his head to the side and wondered if it was just his imagination, but it seemed that a lot of people were staring at them. He concentrated a bit harder and heard some of the whispers going around.

"…_Kya! They are soo cute…_

…_especially the older brother, he is sooo handsome!…_

…_he must be close to 6 feet tall…_

…_have you seen his hair? It looks so glossy and dark…_

…_and his eyes, kya! they are sooo pretty…such long eyelashes…_

…_do you think he is a model…?"_

Akira almost choked when he realized they were talking about them, or more precisely, mainly about Sai. In all honesty, Akira could say that Hikaru's older brother was handsome and seemed to be the type that many women of different ages found attractive. Now that he looked back, while they were shopping, an abundance of saleswomen did flock to their side as soon as they stepped into a store, even the ones who had been attending other customers. With a brilliant smile and a polite, "No, we don't need any help right now, but will call you,- _insert name of saleswoman-_, if we need to", Sai had been able to keep them at bay while they browsed.

Akira took a sip of his drink, set it down and stared at it…and at their pizza. Now that he thought about it, he remembered Sai ordering a large size pizza and 3 drinks, but now that he looked closely, wasn't their pizza too big to be just a large one? He remembered looking at the menu that mentioned a large pizza was about 14 inch in diameter, but the one that arrived at their table could easily pass for a 18 inch one.

"Would you guys like a free refill?", another waitress stopped by their table and asked the same question that 3 more waitress before her had done.

"No thanks. But do you guys have chocolate glazed cheesecake?"

"Yes, we can bring it right away!". Akira was sure that even if they did not had it on the menu, the girl would have run out and bought it herself.

"Thank you, Ami, we don't need it now, but maybe in half an hour or so after we are done eating."

"Of course, Ami, yes, that's my name, Ami. You remembered my name…," the girl walked off in a daze and almost bumped into a fellow waitress.

* * *

**After more browsing, a couple of hours later, near dinnertime…**

"Hikaru is that you?"

Hikaru and Akira were seated on one of the benches found scattered around the mall while they waited for her brother to come back from the washroom. Upon hearing her name, she looked up to see some familiar faces.

"Isumi-san, Waya! How have you guys been? Why are you here?", asked Hikaru.

"Hi, we have been fine. Isumi-san had to buy a book and I just tagged along. How about you guys?"

"Just hanging out with my brother."

"Your brother? Where?", Isumi asked as he looked around.

Before Hikaru could replied, Akira's cell phone rang. "Excuse me," he answered the cell when he notice it was his mother calling. However, the reception was really bad so he moved away to get a better signal. While Akira was gone, they just continued to chat about this and that, with Hikaru still seating while Waya and Isumi continued to stand, but to some people's eyes, mainly one person's eyes, it looked more like 2 guys were trying to pick up a pretty young girl.

"What do you think you guys are doing?" A furious voice asked while grabbing both Waya and Isumi by their collars. And even shook them like dogs for good measure.

Waya had been in the process of kicking his attacker when he heard Hikaru shout, "Nii-san, what are you doing? Let them go, they are my friends!"

Once free, both Isumi and Waya turned around to see who had grabbed them. Both of them had to look up to meet a pair of light purple colored eyes.

Still looking at them suspiciously, Sai asked Hikaru, "Are you sure? They weren't trying to hit on you?"

"What? Hit on her. She is like the little sister I never had," exclaimed Waya. Isumi next to him could only manage a nod upon being shocked speechless for the second time in a row, and in less than 5 minutes no less.

"Geez, nii-san, stop saying such embarrassing things. Anyways, nii-san, remember the other day when I was telling you about Waya and Isumi-san?"

"Oh, hi everyone and sorry, I am Hikaru's brother _Fujiwara Saijo_" he apologized upon recognizing who they were, after all Hikaru had told him lots about them.

Isumi finally found his voice to add, "It is okay. We understand, we would have done the same thing if we had been in your shoes".

Straightening his collar, Waya had to accept the apology, since just like Isumi said, they would have done the same thing if they had thought some punks were trying to pick-up Hikaru.

Isumi, being more mature than Waya, chose to start a conversation to try to dispel any awkwardness, "Anyways, Fujiwara-san how do you like Tokyo so far?"

Before Sai could replied, Akira returned, "Sorry, mother just wanted to check-up on us and that she and father won't be returning until very late at night so we shouldn't even wait up for them."

"Okay, it is getting a bit late, so I guess we should be heading to dinner and home soon. Waya-kun and Isumi-kun, would you two like to join us for dinner?", asked Sai.

"Waya and I should be going. It would be rude for us to barge in."

"Nonsense. Let me buy you guys dinner as a way to apologize for earlier."

"Well…", Isumi looked at Waya. He didn't think it was right for the man to buy them dinner, but he also felt it would be rude to keep saying no when Hikaru's brother was obviously trying to make amends for earlier.

"We are going for sushi," Hikaru added with a sidelong glance at Waya. She knew Waya liked sushi a lot and would never say 'no' to it.

"We will go, right Isumi-san?", asked Waya.

"Yes, thank you so much for the invitation. Did you guys had a specific restaurant in mind?"

* * *

**A/N: What did you guys think about this chapter? For me, it was lots of fun. **

**Also, if anyone is wondering, Sai's middle name is Saijou, but he prefers a shortened version of his Japanese name, which is Sai.**

**And there is one more upcoming chapter of Sai in Tokyo before he has to leave for the US.**

**Also, thank you everyone for reading and commenting. It makes me happy!**


	16. Hanging out with Sai, Part II

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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Chapter 16 - Hanging out with Sai, Part II

**The next day…**

"What plans do you guys have for today?", Akiko asked the kids during breakfast.

"We met Isumi-san and Waya at the mall yesterday and they wanted to take Sai-nii on a tour of Tokyo."

"That's sweet of them. You should bring your friends over sometime. What time are you guys meeting?"

"In about 2 hours."

"That's good. But before meeting them, can you guys come with me for a bit?"

* * *

Half an hour later, Hikaru and everyone else got out of a taxi. The sign of the building in front of them proclaimed it was a hospital. She had been at first curious and a little confuse about why they were here.

"Mother, are we visiting someone?", asked Akira.

"Everything is fine. I just did not want to tell you earlier for fear of worrying you guys," answered Akiko as she led them into the hospital, pass the lobby and into the 3rd floor.

Fearing to hear bad news and with her heart beating loudly, Hikaru asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No. Everything is fine, don't worry. But Koyo hasn't been feeling well so I made him get a check-up yesterday. The doctor said he was only suffering from exhaustion and would be out of the hospital in a couple of days," Akiko finished as she knocked on a door and opened it upon hearing a muffled "Come in."

* * *

Toya Koyo was presently resting quite comfortably in a private room, or to be more precise, as comfortable as possible when not in ones own home. He looked at the time and figured his wife and children would be stopping by soon. He wondered if he should have called Akiko earlier and asked her to bring him something to help relieve his boredom before it killed him.

After returning to Tokyo from that Go event he had a felt a bit more tired than usual and concluded he just needed a bit of rest and everything would be fine. However, Akiko had insisted on him getting a check-up, which he did yesterday. And like he thought, the doctor's diagnosis was "exhaustion". Instead of letting him go home and rest, the doctor had recommended that he stay in the hospital for a couple of days so they could monitor him; apparently due to his family health history, they were worried that at his age and due to exhaustion it could trigger a stroke. _It was just plain nonsense, if anyone asked him_. However, Akiko had ignored his opinion and told him to just listen to his doctor. He had finally agreed with her but with the condition not to tell anyone but the kids where he was.

A knock on his door broke him out of his reverie and Koyo felt slightly guilty upon seeing the worried look that the children gave him. They stood tentatively at the door and he asked them to come closer so that they could see he was fine.

"Father, are you okay? What did the doctors say?"

"And how come you didn't tell us yesterday, uncle Koyo?"

"I am fine, I wouldn't even be here if they hadn't insisted on me staying. They just want to run some more tests and to bore me to death."

"Honey!", Akiko reprimanded him.

"I mean, you know how doctors are, they are just overly cautious. I didn't want to call you guys and make you worried for no reason. I will be able to go home in a couple of days. In the meantime, I am just stuck here. So tell me, where did you guys went yesterday?"

* * *

During the next few days, Akira, Hikaru and Sai visited Toya Koyo at the hospital in the morning and early evening. Each of them would have preferred to stay longer or at least take turns staying, but Akiko and Koyo were against it. Akiko reminded them that the doctor had prescribed rest and having the children there would only tempt her husband to ask for a game of Go, it was better if she stayed to just read and talk to him. Besides, this way, the couple could also spend some quality time together.

During the first two days, Waya and Isumi took Akira, Hikaru and Sai to _Tokyo Tower_. They started from the bottom, _Foot Town_, and slowly worked their way to the top of the tower. They admired and took lots of pictures at the Aquarium Gallery, and then even went into the souvenir shops and the FamilyMart. At one of the souvenir shops, Hikaru bought a mini-version of the _Tokyo Tower_. At the FamilyMart, they browsed and bought some magazines and manga, and since Hikaru and Sai, and even Akira (a native of Tokyo) had never eaten there before, they bought onigiri and bento for lunch.

In fact, Sai had a field day with the onigiri and bento; the man grabbed every flavor available and dropped it all in their cart. To an outsider, it looked as if they were buying enough to feed a very large group, and not _just_ any group, but a group of starving teenagers. Even though the stores onigiri and bento were less expensive than the ones from a restaurant, Waya was expecting the bill to not be cheap. Yet to his surprise, not only did they get a huge discount, but even a second bag of free drinks.

* * *

**An hour later…**

They had been seating in one of the tables provided at the food court of the tower and had spread as much of their purchases as they could on top of the table so everyone could eat whatever they wanted.

"Come on guys, please help yourself. There is a lot left and if you want to get another flavor or a different type I could go back and buy more."

Four heads shook 'no' at him.

"I am so full that I could burst", announced Waya after he closed the lid on his 4th bento. He had tried the broiled salmon, sauté chicken, eel, and finally the sushi bentos.

Isumi himself was so full that he didn't even have the energy to tell Waya to use better language.

Akira had long finished eating and was just sipping his bottle of green tea. And Hikaru was currently nibbling on an onigiri while Sai was happily on his way to his 4th bento. A couple of minutes later, one of the highlights of the day occurred when Hikaru decided to see what was in _'extra bag of drinks' _that the cashier had handed her brother.

"Hm…more tea…juice…water…and Ann's number".

"What?" or "Who?" sounded from three different people. But the 4th person's reaction was much more amusing; Sai almost choked on the bite of rice he was chewing.

While Isumi thumped Sai on the back, Waya asked, "Is _'Ann's number' _a new drink? I have never heard of it."

Isumi could only say "Waya" in exasperation while Akira averted his eyes and Sai's response was "I didn't do anything! I don't know her".

Ignoring everyone, Hikaru continued reading from the small scrap of paper she had pulled out from the plastic bag, "Sai-nii, it also says to call anytime."

Half an hour later, after more laughter and teasing Sai about being a lady-killer, they continued to explore one more floor of the tower before calling it a day and coming back tomorrow. On the 3rd floor they explored the _Guinness World Records Museum_, and took photos _of_ and _with_ the life-size wax figures that ranged from pop culture icons to historical figures. Even Waya and Isumi were impressed with the hologram gallery found in Gallery DeLux.

The next day they came back earlier and continued with the fourth floor of _Tokyo Tower_. Here, in the _Trick Art Gallery_,they had a lot of fun with the optical illusions. They checked out the small amusement park in the tower before heading for the observatories which offered them a 360 degree view of Tokyo and were even able to see Mount Fuji to their south. They also visited the Shrinto shrine found in the tower and at the end took a very late lunch across the street, at the little Italian restaurant that had caught their eyes earlier when they were heading to the tower. Sai ordered mozzarella sticks and mushroom stuffed with cheese for appetizers and for the main course everyone ordered something different, from lasagna, spaghetti, ravioli, alfredo pasta, and risottos. Instead of bringing five slice of tiramisu, the giggling waitress brought the whole cake, and even told them it was on the house.

When the check came, Isumi, Waya and Akira had insisted on paying, but Sai beat them to it; The waitress only had eyes for Sai and only handed the receipt to him when he asked her for it with a winning smile. Before the end of the day, both Isumi and Waya apologized for not being able to meet them again before Sai had to leave and even gave them a list of additional places they could visit in Tokyo; Isumi's family had an extended family gathering in Osaka while Waya had to study for his high school entrance exam.

"Fujiwara-san, thank you so much for everything and the next time you come to Tokyo we promised to take you to more different places."

"I should be the one thanking both of you for playing tour guides for us and you don't have to address me so formally."

It wasn't until a week later, when it was too late to see him in person, did Waya finally realized why Hikaru's brother seemed so familiar. The whole time he was studying, there was something nagging at him, he felt he forgot something important but couldn't pinpoint what it was. It wasn't until he finally took a break from studying, turned his computer on, logged on to his favorite Go website, and while searching for someone to play did the name "SAI" flash across his mind in vivid colors. _Fujiwara Saijo_, a.k.a. Hikaru's brother, a.k.a. the man she called Sai-nii! As in the famous online player SAI. He slapped his forehead but then reasoned that Sai wasn't such a rare name, it was pretty common…but still he called Hikaru to confirm. When he heard her response, he was so quiet that Hikaru thought the line had gone dead before she heard what sounded like something was being banged on a hard surface (Waya's forehead meeting his desk), while calling himself "Stupid, stupid, stupid".

Before Sai left on the 3rd of January, he was glad to see Toya Koyo leave the hospital with a clean health bill. The family also made their annual New Year visit to the shrine and Akiko gave each of them a good luck charm. And during the last two days before his departure, Sai also spent as much time as possible with Hikaru .

* * *

**A/N: I didn't have Toya Koyo stay in the hospital just randomly. The reason would become obvious sometime later.**

**I chose Waya and Isumi as their tour guides because Hikaru hasn't really explored Tokyo since her arrival and Akira had never been interested in anything but Go. Also, I am not very familiar with Tokyo Tower (but was suggested to me when I asked around for places to visit in Tokyo), so don't get mad if I had made tons of mistakes. Even so, I had lots of fun writing this chapter, especially the scenes with Sai in it; it was so much fun seeing him being silly, especially when in other chapters he would be more serious.**

**Also, one last note, someone asked during the previous chapter, why I had them eating twice. Why not? It was two separate meals. **

**And I haven't been able to update for a while 'cause I have been very sick. **

**Thanks everyone for all your support and encouragement; you are one of the main reasons why I uploaded two chapters today! Enjoy.**


	17. Meet Valerie Smithson

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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**Chapter 17 - Meet Valerie Smithson**

It had been a couple of months since the new year and many things had happened. Sai had left Japan and his baby sister but he still called her once a week. However, he haven't been able to play any Go games over the phone since he had been too busy trying to speed up the move to Japan.

A jarring ringing interrupted Sai out of his thought, and he looked down and noticed that his secretary was trying to reach him. Pressing the speaker on, "Steven?"

"Sir, the lobby security just called to say that Mrs. Smithson is downstairs, _again_. Per your orders, the guards are not letting her come up, but she is making quite a scene. Should we call the police?"

Sai pinched the bridge of his noise and let out a sigh. He was tempted to just call the police, but he might as well just deal with her now and get it over. The woman had been calling the office non-stop ever since the beginning of the new year but thanks to Steven, who screened his call, Sai had been able to avoid talking to her. The woman had even attempted to bribe and then outright threaten Steven in an effort to force his secretary to let her gain access to Sai. Thank goodness Sai had loyal employees! Too bad he couldn't say the same about some of his so called _relatives_.

"I will just see her. But make sure you have the guards escort her up".

Twenty minutes later, a tall middle-aged blond woman strolled furiously into his office. "They accompanied me here as if I was a common criminal."

Sai raised his left eyebrow and inwardly smirked at the furious look on her face; he had the guards bring her up knowing very well how she would react to it.

He indicated that the guards and Steven should leave them alone and did not bother to offer his unwelcome guest a seat. Seeing that it was not the best strategy to employ with Sai, Valerie Smithson took a calming breath and tried to soothe her ruffle feathers.

Inwardly, she fumed, _The nerve of the ungrateful brat! Who was it that took care of them when they became orphans? If it wasn't for her, they would be out in the streets! Still, she had to relax. Come on, Valerie, be at your most charming self. Before you know it, you would have the brats in the palm of your hand and we would see who rules then._

She took a seat and pasted on a false smile. "Honey, you must be so busy that you didn't even have time to come see us during the holidays. We all missed you and little Hikaru so much."

Still seeing no reaction from the young man, she continued brightly, "I just wanted to stop by and see how you were both doing. I tried calling your cell phone but it seems to have been disconnected. I also tried reaching you at the office, but that odious secretary of yours kept making up excuses and saying how you were either gone or too busy to talk to me. The nerve! You should fired them all for doing such a lousy job."

Sai only response was to sip his coffee and to add in a dispassionate voice, "I think they are doing a great job."

With great amusement, Sai noticed a suspicious twitch start on her left eyebrow. He silently wondered how that could be since the woman had injected lots of botox into her face in an useless effort to keep looking younger.

"Silly me, you must have your reasons for keeping them. I never did had a head for business, but let's not talk about it. Like I said I wanted to stop by and check how you and your sister are doing. By the way, where is she? I brought both of you gifts. You would not belief how hard it was to keep this with me. Those _people_ at the front desk wanted me to leave it downstairs with them. As if I would!"

She set down two small colored wrapped boxes on the desk between them and Sai didn't even bother glancing at them. "You shouldn't have bothered since I certainly didn't bother to get _you _anything."

"Silly boy, don't worried about it. Your aunt is happy to just see you and Hikaru. So where is she? Is she at home? If you can just give me your new address I can stop by and give her my gift."

_Did the woman think Sai was an idiot? _He bluntly stated, "My sister is at a summer camp and even if she was here, I wouldn't allow her to see you."

Pasting on a fake shocked look, "What? Why would you do that? We love each other so much."

"To be honest, neither Hikaru or I wish to see you. I only allowed you to finally come up to give you this last warning: _**Stop bothering us**_."

Seeing no way of swaying the stubborn man, her fakeness started fading and her true colors started to come out. "How dare you talk to me that way? I am your aunt. And she is the daughter of my beloved sister. I have the right to see her, if fact I demand it!", the last came out in a screeched voice.

In a still composed and cool voice, Sai replied, "I dare because I am her brother and her guardian. You, on the other hand, have no blood relation to her."

Giving rein to her inward thoughts, the woman screamed at the top of her lungs that he was an ungrateful selfish brat, that he should be thankful to her, that he should be honored she had actually taken time to see him. And on and on her rant went while Sai's only response was to yawn and check his nails.

"I am calling the police and the media. You probably have Hikaru locked up in a room and…"

She was stopped mid-rant when she felt a pair of dark purple colored eyes glare fiercely at her and in an ice-cold voice, "Please do it. Let's call the police and I would have you arrested for practically forcing your way here. Even better, why don't we tell the media how the great Valerie Smithson had her five year old niece living in an isolated town, in a depilated house while you lived in the lap of luxury spending the money that our parents left her and I?"

"That was for her own protection! I didn't want her to be kidnapped again and that place was the safest!"

"Oh, really? Then let's not forget how your good for nothing husband committed fraud and stole from this company before I took over?"

"That…that's not true. I am telling you, someone set him up. You have to call your lawyers and drop the case. It is all a big misunderstanding."

"I will do no such thing. And you can tell him and any of his accomplices that I would see to it that they spend the rest of their lives in prison. By the time the case closes, I will see to it that the whole world knows what kind of scum they are."

Spluttering, she screeched at his back, "You…you can't do it! The media is already printing out horrible rumors about us. It would just ruin us."

Sai opened the door and told the guards who were waiting outside his office, "Can you please see to it that this person is escorted out? And you are to never let her step foot into this building and if she insists feel free to call the police."

A disgusted "Madam," from one of the guards forced her to stand up. She wanted to smash something, but not wanting to make another scene that would have her in today's front page, she could just imagine the headline, "The great socialite Valerie Smithson kicked out of building like trash!" The vultures would lap it all up!

"This is not the end. You have not heard the last from me," was her cliché parting words.

* * *

**An hour later…**

"Come in,"

A tall dark haired young man walked into Sai's office, "I heard you had quite a visitor?"

"And I see you have too much free time on your hands since you seem pretty updated about what goes on around here."

Not deterred by his boss and friend's sarcastic note, John continued, "I also heard she left in quite a huff. I wish I could have seen it."

A warning, "John…", had the young man steering back to the reason why he had stopped by. He spread the parcel of papers he had been carrying on Sai's desk. "This is the final design. It includes all the changes you wanted in the last meeting and with your final approval we can start building."

Spread out on his desk were large drawings of a housing complex Sai had wanted built for his future employees in Japan. He had wanted to make life easier for his workers by providing anyone who wanted with a place to live; whether they be single or married, young or old.

"Here is the wing for singles and in the opposite side is the family wing. Each apartment is equipped with a kitchen, washroom, washing machine and dryer. Also, each apartment either has 2, 3 or 4 bedrooms. Of course, on the single wing, we also included single bedroom apartments for anyone who wishes for more privacy and does not want any roommates. In the middle, connecting both wings is a cafeteria, gym, infirmary and a lobby. And there are also empty rooms that you can convert into anything you want later. Security would also be tight; hidden cameras in the lobby, entrances and hallway and to open all doors, an inhabitant would need to swipe their employee ID card and their respective family will also be provided with ID cards. The system is also set up so that if you wish, in the future, doors will only be accessible through fingerprints. We also included back-up power generators in case of emergencies."

A couple of minutes of silence followed as Sai looked carefully over each blueprint. He finally looked up and smiled, "very good. I want to be updated daily on its progress and how is the main office building going?"

"Before the end of the year, it should be completely done and furnished."

"Excellent."

"Thank you. I will hurried up and inform everyone."

"And John?"

"Yes?", the brown-haired man turned absently back to look at Sai. In his head, he was already thinking about work and the many things he should tried to get done before the end of the day.

"You owe me 10 dollars."

"Huh?", John asked stupidly before he remembered the bet he had with Sai. "You kidding me? She was stupid enough to use the same method?"

"Believe it or not. Security took apart the gifts she brought with her. Inside the Barbie doll meant for my sister, they found a microphone and a GPS chip."

John just groaned; one would think that Valerie Smithson would be smart enough not to do the same thing over and over again. All the gifts she had mailed to the office contained hidden chips that either tried to broadcast conversations going on or tried to track the owner's location. The woman did not seem to grasp the fact that _Sakura Industries _was at the top of the electronic world and that the latest and most advanced technology was being developed and produced by them. Once inside the building, _**noone**_ was able to sneak in any kind of spying tools, no matter how small or well hidden. All visitors and employees had to pass through a electronic detector located at the visitors or employees entrances. The detection stations would pick up all electronics the person was carrying and would scramble or block any signals from non-approved electronics. In fact, each employee were given special cell phones and additional electronics all containing the _Sakura Industries _seal and approval to be able to function inside and outside this building.

"Can I paid you later?"

Sai's only response was to extend his left palm up. Heaving a long suffering sigh, John took out a $10 bill and slapped it into his friend's palm.

"Here, but you are buying lunch tomorrow."

A mischievous smirk followed that comment and a "No can do. It is your turn. Plus didn't you check the stock market? I was right, that company's stock went down."

Muttering something about bad luck and damn lucky bastard, John took himself out of the office. _He knew he shouldn't have betted against Sai, especially when it came to the stock market, but he had been so sure that the company in question would keep rising, who knew they would fall so soon and so fast? _

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**A/N: Liked this chapter? I figure after all the fluffiness of previous chapters, it was time to bring in a not so happy topic; the Smithson's. One could say that during better times, the Smithson's were one of the richest families in America. However….**

**Valerie Smithson is the step-sister of Sai's mother. They are not related by blood or anything. Also, the woman is pretty delusional and she sees nothing wrong with her actions and expects everything to go her way; she feels she is entitled to everything. **

**And John is an employee and friend of Sai's; they both met during college and feel very comfortable joking with each other. In fact, they sometimes just pick on each other, good-naturedly, of course, just for fun.**


	18. A bit of summer and… Mr Toad?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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**Chapter 18 - A bit of summer and… Mr. Toad?**

Hikaru and Akira had already turned 14, finished their 1st year of junior high, passed the preliminary round for the Pro Exam with three wins and zero losses. And now, they were currently trying to enjoy their break before the Pro Go Exam and their 2nd year of school started.

It was on an innocuous summer day when Hikaru was almost squashed by one of her sempais. She had been coming back from watching a practice game of football (soccer); Hikaru had gone to support some of her sempais and classmates who were in the team. It had been a great game, 2-1, with her school winning against one of the top team's in the region. Their coach had invited the whole team, including Hikaru, who was thought of as a non-official member, for lunch and before everyone departed for their respective home, the captain of the team, Hino-sempai, had somehow been landed with the task of taking her home.

She had protested, "It is only 3 in the afternoon, it is not dark and I know my way home."

Before Hino-sempai could say anything, many of the team members had jumped in and added their two cents.

"It would be no bother, Hino here lives close to you"…

"It is the least our captain can do for you since you have bothered to come to cheer us"…

and "It is thanks to you that the captain scored that last winning goal".

Hikaru had wanted to say that the only reason they had won was due to the hard work of the whole team who had been practicing tirelessly every morning before classes and after school, but she was interrupted this time by their coach.

"You took the trouble to come and the least we can do is have Hino here see you home. If you don't want to, I can do it instead?"

Hikaru shook her head at the last offer. The coach's house was on the opposite direction of hers.

"Sempai, are you sure you don't want to hang out with the rest of the team? I can go home by myself and will even call you when I get there."

Hino stopped walking and turned sideways so he could face her and was only able to get a "I want…", before he was shoved from behind and only thanks to his fast athletic reflex was he able to keep his balance and not squash Hikaru.

They both turned to see a girl a couple of years younger than them on the ground and a heavy-set man shout from the doorway of a store, "Don't you dare come back!"

The furious man went back to his store and Hino helped the girl up. "Thank you", was all she could say before she started crying.

After the girl, Kanae-chan, calmed down she told them what was going on; a year ago a thief had broken into their house and stolen her grandfather's ceramic bowl. And after much searching, Kanae had finally found it. She had wanted to buy it back knowing how happy it would make her sad grandfather.

"Did you told the man about the bowl being stolen from your house? Isn't it illegal to sell stolen merchandise?", inquired Hino.

"I told him about it being stolen and he does not care. Grandfather said it was not worth much money but to us it is a precious family heirloom".

* * *

The first thing that Hikaru noticed upon entering the shop were the many antique merchandise; some looked pretty genuine and others gave her an off feeling.

"This is the real deal. A genuine bowl from the Edo period by Sanwa Yaemon."

"Yes, I know of him. His bowls are called Keichou Flower Bowls, right?", a man in his early thirties inquired of the shop owner.

"Yes, you are right and I see you have a great eye and taste. How about it?", asked the owner, who was starting to look more like a toad to Hikaru.

"2,000,000 yen and not a single yen less."

"What?", the would-be-customer hurriedly returned the bowl to Mr. Toad.

"This is a piece of art. And if you don't buy it now someone else would. You can pay in installments. How about it?"

Seeing the poor man being duped, Hikaru didn't hesitate and said, "Mister, don't believe him. That is a fake!"

"Fake?"

"Just because you are brat does not mean I would go easy on you if you keep telling lies."

"I am not lying. That's not a real Keichou Flower Bowl."

In a derisive tone, Mr. Toad asked, "And what would a brat like you know?"

"The color is wrong, the shape is uneven and this bowl has absolutely no class when you compare it to a real Keichou Flower Bowl."

"Oh, you seem to have a good eye brat. I like that," Mr. Toad complimented her.

"What? So the 2,000,000 yen was a lie?", inquired the man who had been observing quietly the argument between the little girl and the store owner.

"Oops, I slipped in front of the stupid target?", snickered Mr. Toad.

"What? So I was a target?"

"In this world there are two kind of people. One is the kind that has good eyes and the other are the stupid ones who don't know the value of things."

"You…", was all the mister could say before he turned around with the sole intention of leaving this cursed shop. However, so great was his hurried that he didn't notice another young girl in his path and almost bumped into her.

The girl was holding an ordinary bowl and turned to face the store owner. "Can you tell me who sold it to you? This is definitely my grandfather's bowl and I have brought in all my savings."

Mr. Toad rushed in front of the girl and snatched the item in question away. "You again! Don't touch it with your grubby hands. Like I said earlier, I don't care whether it was stolen or not. I bought it for 5,000 yen and am not giving it to you. This is mine and if you want to buy it than bring in 5 million yen."

"But you just said it was a cheap thing," pointed out Hino-sempai.

"It was cheap when I bought it, but now it is worth 5 million yen."

Right then a phone rang and while the store owner answered it and dealt with a customer who found out he had been duped as well, out of the corner of her eyes, Hikaru caught sight of a Go board in the next room. It seemed Mr. Toad played Go. She looked up and also noticed a certificate claiming the man was a 5-dan. She bit her lip and wondered if she should challenge the man to a game in exchange for the bowl but now…

"Like I said, 'It is not my problem what the other appraiser said. You seemed quite happy to pay that price for the bowl. In fact, shouldn't you be ashamed that you pay so much for such a cheap thing?'", cackled Mr. Toad

That last taunt and the other girl's and the mister's dejected look made up Hikaru's mind. Her nii-san would never have left without at least trying to help. Also, the man was doing dishonest business; it was one thing to profit but another thing to gain money by lying and cheating the customers. Straightening her spine, Hikaru reminded herself that just because he was a 5-dan did not necessary mean he was strong; after all, one could not drop in rank even if one lost all their games. And just like her brother said, _"an outcome is not always guarantee, and that a winner would not be known until one actually played."_.

**

* * *

**

Forty-five minutes later…

The store owner did not look so proud anymore and his toad-like smile started disappearing as the minutes ticked by. He had been sure he could beat the brat without much effort. In fact, after the first few moves, he was sure he could. The girl played some good moves from time to time but then there were also those haphazardly placed ones, moves that a novice would make. He had been leading one minute and the next found himself loosing territories at an incredibly fast pace. He gritted his teeth and took a calming breath; _he could do this, he could win_.

The mister who had stayed behind to see this game, although a real Go novice, even he could tell that the little girl was pretty good; good enough to make her opponent sweat.

While Hikaru's Hino-sempai had never been more grateful for knowing how to play Go, which was all thanks to his eccentric uncle. His uncle had been a successful businessman who had retired at an early age and although he did not need the money, and could live very comfortably for the rest of his life without working, he still wandered from job to job. Hino's mother had said that her brother was just bore and that he needed additional hobbies besides Go. Speaking of Go, Hino was sure that his uncle would be more than static to meet Hikaru, someone who looked so innocent but was strong enough to make a ranked Go player sweat.

And the one who had absolutely no clue what was going on, the future owner of the bowl in dispute, looked at the board, at each of the players and the spectators next to her. She just hoped with all her heart that the nice onee-chan could beat the evil store owner and help her get back her grandfather's bowl.

**

* * *

**

Sometime later…

"You can have that cheap thing, I have never really wanted it," Mr. Toad gritted through his teeth. He had done all he could but even he knew that to continue the game would only point out how much worst his skills were when compared to his opponent's.

"Thank you. If you could please issued a receipt, Kanae-chan is willing to pay you 6,000 yen."

After getting the receipt, Hikaru looked it over and passed it to the other girl.

"Hino-sempai, can you please pass me that vase that's filled with water?"

"This one?"

"What are you doing onee-chan? Grandpa had always kept it stored 'cause he says it is too precious of a family heirloom to use."

Everyone watched in awe as flowers started to bloom at the bottom of the bowl not long after Hikaru had poured water over it.

"A Keichou Flower Bowl _without_ flowers can not be called a Keichou Flower Bowl".

"What? I heard about his rumored last masterpiece. Can this be it?", the almost duped customer asked.

"It is mine!", said Mr. Toad as he snatched the bowl away.

"You should give it up. Didn't you say that there are only two kind of people in this world? The one who knows the value of things and those that don't?", helpfully pointed out Hikaru.

**

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**

A/N: Liked this chapter? I was hoping this chapter could show a bit more of Hikaru's growth as a child and as a Go player. By excluding Akira and having Hikaru do other activities (such as watching a football game), I wanted to show that she did other things besides Go and had non-Go related friends. But at the same time, Go is an integral part of her life so she can not help coming back to it.

**Also, although Hikaru does not particularly like or hate Japanese arts, she is only this knowledgeable because her brother is very interested in it and has tons of books in his personal library (which Hikaru has explored every inch of it over and over again during the time she had stayed with him. And I also loved this anime episode and wanted to included this part somewhere in the story)...**

**And although the store owner had paid 5,000 yen for the bowl, they still paid him 6,000 yen; they paid the man an extra 1,000 yen as a sort of housing fee for keeping the bowl at the store. They could probably have taken it for free, but then it would have made them no much better than the store owner who did dishonest transactions. Also before anyone asks, even if they had called the police, it would not have been much help since they had no proof that the bowl belonged to Kanae's grandfather or that the store owner was selling an stolen item. **


	19. Studying for the exam

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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Chapter 19 - Studying for the exam

"What is going on here?"

"Oh, Kawaii-san, you haven't been coming here for a while."

"Good afternoon owner. I have been in the countryside visiting one of my sister's. She just had a boy. "

"Congratulations! Are both mother and child okay?"

"Yes, both are fine. Here, let me show you some pictures."

While the owner and his wife "ohh" and "ahh" at the baby photos of Kawaii's new nephew, near the end of the Go salon, many of the salon patrons had gathered around and watched in amazement at the simultaneous games going around the table. A young girl had wandered in on a rainy day a couple of weeks ago, asked for a game of Go and before anyone knew it, she had become a habitual patron who came at least once a week.

Many of the patrons were overjoyed to have a younger player visiting them; it was nice to see someone from a new generation expressing interest in their beloved game. And it didn't hurt that this young girl also reminded many of the patrons of their grandchildren and had taken to adopting the girl as a grandchild.

"Owner, you should have seen it; it was a tied, one after the other", exclaimed Tsukabishi-san, an old patron, as he headed to the front of the salon.

"You kidding? Let me see…", was the last thing Kawaii heard before the salon owner rushed out from behind the counter and headed towards the end of the room. Getting curious, Kawaii followed not far behind them.

Kawaii had been coming to this Go salon ever since he retired; it was not as upscale and uptight as other salons he had been in which meant he liked this one even better. The salon was made up of mostly elderly men who loved the game of Go; they would sometimes play games, go over famous games played by pros, watch pro games on the TV, and much more. In short, it was a laidback place where people who loved Go gathered together. Everyone knew everyone and it was rare for something to cause this much of a commotion, unless of course, there was a heated debate about a certain game.

**

* * *

**

In a corner of the salon…

The first thing Kawaii saw when he made his way to the back were three side by side finished games. He looked at each game in detail and admired the well fought battle that had brought each game to this current conclusion, which was weird enough a tied. In front of each goban, set an elderly patron whom he recognized as Ichijou-san, Keigo-san and Tatsuki-san; one could say that they were among the top 5 players in this salon.

The weird thing was that seated across from them was a girl no older than 13 or 14 years old. He was sure he had never seen her here before and wondered if the kid had been forced to come with her grandfather. Shaking random thoughts out of his mind, Kawaii focused more on finding Ichijou's, Keigo's and Tatsuki's opponents. He had his mouth open to inquire when the owner's wife stepped up to the girl.

She ruffled the girl's hair and handing her a popsicle congratulated her on a job well done. "Hikaru-chan, you did it! I knew you could do it. You were able to tied all of them."

The kid smiled prettily and added a "Thank you. But it took me forever. I need to practice more."

Murmurs of "Nonsense, you did great!…And it wasn't that long…It would have taken me days to do it…I could never have done it…" and much more were heard from the rest of the salon patrons.

"Should we discuss them? I was sure I was going to win.", added Ichijou.

"Me too. You had me worried at 12-6 but then you relaxed and I was able to attach here," pointed the girl with one hand at the board while the other hand was holding a half-eaten popsicle.

"Hikaru-chan, how about me? Do you think my mistake was at 17-9 or more at 16-2?" inquired Keigo.

"They were both great moves and I would have fallen for them but then I remembered that you favored the upper right side corner more and anticipated your true goal so I moved here and here," continued the girl as she pointed at certain spots on the 2nd goban.

Tatsuki, sighing added his own two cents, "And I thought you were aiming for the lower right corner and was too busy protecting it to notice you attacking here and here. Before I knew it, the game had also ended in a tie."

Some more discussion followed about strategies and loud protests followed when Ichijou, Keigo and Tatsuki asked for another game.

"It is my turn…

You just played against Hikaru-chan…

No it is my turn, you player her the last time she was here….

Your memory is going old man, you were the one who played against her and now it should be my turn…"

The bickering went on and on and only stopped when the little girl stood up and announced that it was time for her to go home or her family would worry. Groans were heard, but many of the patrons also asked her to come back soon. And the owner and his wife even reminded her that she could come back for free.

Strapping her messenger bag on, after thanking everyone and grabbing some of the sweets from a bowl next to the gobans, the girl headed out while everyone waved goodbye.

Blinking at the bizarre scene, Kawaii reached for the bowl of sweets. However, before he could even pick one candy up, a couple of people slapped his hand away.

"Ouch, what was that for?", asked Kawaii with outrage and was met with glares from everyone.

"What are you doing Kawaii-san?"

"I was just thought the sweets looked tempting and was going to grab one."

"If I were you, I wouldn't do it. Everyone brought these for Hikaru-chan", added the owner's wife with a twinkle in her eyes as she took the bowl and headed towards the front counter.

Rubbing his injure hand, Kawaii-san asked noone in particular, "What just happened and who was that girl?"

After many gasps of _"You don't know?…Where have you been…And you didn't see it?"_,did Kawaii finally learn what had been going on during the last few weeks that he had been gone. What was most astounding was not that she had managed to purposely tied all three games with very decent amateur players, but that she had tied all the games while she played with her back to the goban. Kawaii jaws dropped when he realized that a junior high school kid had been playing blind Go.

**

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**

On the other side of town, in his father's Go Salon…

Akira set in the corner, away from the patrons while he re-created a game from a book; this was one of his methods for improving his Go. Sometimes he would re-created famous Go games and analyze each game, put himself into each player's shoes and tried to see why a player did a certain move and not the other. He would do this a couple of times a week at his father Go salon and then he would either play games or teach Shidou-Go to some of the patrons.

On other days he would attend his father Go discussions at home, play with his father's students, discuss past pro games and much more. And of course, each morning he would also play his father.

Akira wanted to be in top shape for the fast approaching Pro Exam.

* * *

**On another part of town at one of Morishikawa's Go meetings…**

"That was a very good move Waya."

"Thank you sensei. Still, you didn't fall for it. I was sure I would get the upper hand here…do you think I should have gone to 7-9 instead?…"

Morishikawa looked on proudly as his student dissected the game. He did not know what had happened, but Waya had launched himself more into his Go studies and had improved a lot when compared to last year. _Maybe this year, for sure, Waya would pass and join him on the path of a Go professional._

"…sei, sensei?" inquired Waya.

Morishikawa snapped back to attention. "Sensei, what do you think about this move? I saw someone else doing something similar the other day while I was online playing Go. I thought that the idea was not bad, but it would be even better if I tweaked it a bit and laid a trap here and…"

* * *

And thus weeks passed and before anyone noticed the Pro Exam was around the corner…

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A/N: What does everyone think of this chapter? This was like a snapshot of how Hikaru, Akira and Waya study for the Pro Exam. They will sometimes get together to play or just to hang out and do something non-Go related. However, each of them is working very hard in their own way for the exams.

**I also wanted to thank everyone for staying with this story. And also thanks to everyone who has commented, especially **_KitsuneNaru_ **for commenting on every chapter I had written.**


	20. 1st Day of the Pro Exam

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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**Chapter 20 - 1****st**** Day of the Pro Exams**

_Breathe. In and out…in and out. _Waya had to forcefully remind himself about the fact that he needed air to survive. It wouldn't do for him to pass out due to lack of oxygen. His stomach was tied into knots; today was the beginning of the pro exam.

_Ping, _and finally the elevator stopped at his floor! Waya stepped out and saw Hikaru lying down on one of those hidden benches placed on the side of the elevators; a jacket served as a blanket to keep her warm while Toya Akira's lap was her pillow.

Waya blinked once and twice to clear his sight; trust Hikaru to be able to doze off at a time like this.

Akira put down the book he had been reading and nodded at Waya before his open mouth could formulate a greeting. It seemed that the boy did not want Waya to speak so as not to wake Hikaru up. Waya snorted at that; if the girl could sleep through the noise created by the many people who where wandering around on this floor while waiting for the exam to being, a simple greeting from him would not wake her up.

However, right at that moment, Hikaru stirred and set up. She rubbed her eyes and yawned before registering where she was and a sleepy "Morning" was all she managed before she started sipping the drink Akira passed her.

Waya once again opened his mouth but was stopped from speaking by Akira's glare. He frowned and glared right back for good measure. _What was up with that stuck up? _Compare to the beginning, Toya Jr. and him were on cordial terms if not outright friendly so what was with the hostile look?

* * *

Akira sighed, he had been hoping to give Hikaru a couple of more minutes to nap before he woke her up. However, Waya had to go and ruin his plan. She had not been feeling well and had barely eaten any breakfast so his mother had quickly added a small box of onigiri to the two bento she had prepared for them.

"Are you feeling better?", he asked her as she chewed on one of the onigiri.

She nodded and Akira offered some of the onigiri to the other boy; it would have been downright rude not to. After all, now that he thought about it, the other boy had not known about Hikaru's health and had not intentionally woken her up.

Looking a bit contrite, Waya added, "Sorry for waking you up. Are you not feeling well?"

Hikaru answered with a "Nay, just a bit tired." She scooted over and made space so Waya could seat and asked both boys whether they were excited or nervous now that the exam was going to being in a couple of minutes.

* * *

Hikaru blinked once and then twice to clear her vision. For a second there, her vision had blurred and she had seen two gobans in front of her, instead of one. For good measure, she even pinched herself to bring everything back into focus. She had been so nervous and had barely slept yesterday night; if it wasn't for Akira she probably would not even had made it so early to the Go Association, let alone made it on time for the first exam! She did not want to forfeit any of her games and wanted to do her best in each of them. She had been practicing so hard for the Pro Exam and did not want to let anyone down by loosing her first game. Also, she had told Sai-nii that she would be one of the three people to pass the Pro Exam this year and she would do it no matter what!

* * *

While his opponent thought about his own move, Akira took a quick glance at Hikaru. She seemed to be okay although her face looked a bit flushed. The sound of his opponent's stone called Akira's attention back to the board in front of him and he switched gears and focused on his own game. Although his opponent's Go skill was not above his own, still, if Akira was not careful and made mistakes, he could loose the game, too.

* * *

If Waya was alone and in his own room, he would have smacked himself. What was that stupid move? He wanted to place his stone one spot above and not below! Breath in and out…he could do this! There was no need to be nervous, this was not his first Pro Exam. In fact it wasn't even his second!…Okay, thinking about his past exams made things even worse. He took a deep breath and tried to refocus back on his game, back to his plan and strategy.

* * *

By the time lunchtime arrived, more than half of the people taking the exam breathed a sigh of relief. Most had been a bit tense and had started the game not on their best footing. Most hoped that the lunch break would give them time to relax and regroup by either turning the tables on their opponents and gaining the upper hand or to continuing keeping the upper hand over their opponents.

During this break, Akira, Hikaru and Waya found themselves seated at a table surrounded by the rest of the insei group that Waya belonged to; there was Nase-san, Fukui-kun, and many more. Akira knew most of them but he was content with just listening to the conversations that swirled around him while he set quietly and ate his own lunch.

"_Man that was harder than I thought…_

_I can't loose the first game!…_

_I can't believe what I did at the beginning of the game…_

_I can't believe I fell for that trip…_

_My opponent is quite good and kept deflecting my attacks…_

_I can't pinpoint what my opponent wanted at the beginning… _

_When the game starts again, I would do much better…_

_This is just the beginning…_

_Here I come, watch out!"_

Eventually, after the first flurries of complaints and encouragements about today's games, conversation turned to more mundane and non-Go related topics. The latest movie and video game were discussed, plans for the weekend, school, etc.

* * *

"I have nothing," said Akira's opponent. Half an hour later Waya's opponent said the same. Both of their opponents had fought valiantly but eventually saw that to continue further would have been moot and thus chose not to carry the game to the end. However, in Hikaru's case, her opponent did not seem to wish to quit anytime soon.

Thus, Akira and Waya found themselves waiting together outside the exam room for Hikaru to finish. Akira read his book while Waya just paced up and down the hallway. They had taken a quick peek at Hikaru's game as they passed her when they left the room, and although the game seemed a bit even, both were sure that Hikaru had some kind of hidden plan to beat his opponent.

Finally half an hour later, the last person to come out of the exam room was Hikaru. The girl put on her shoes and flashed a victory sign at Akira and Waya to let them know she had won her game, too. However, she had barely made it halfway to them when she dropped to the floor in a faint scaring both boys witless.

Both boys froze for a couple of seconds before rushing to her side. One of them stayed with her while the other rushed to the first floor to grab an adult for help. In their panic, none of the boys remembered to use a cell phone to call for help.

Luckily, after a quick check-up by the doctor, Hikaru was sent home with instructions to do nothing but rest for the next two days. The girl had a slight fever, exhaustion and the lack of sleep did not help much. Thankfully, it was nothing that a bit of rest and some medicine could not cure.

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**A/N: How all! Sorry for taking so long to publish this chapter. Had some problems at work and I guess I still do; call me naïve but I was almost blindsided by the hypocrisy that some co-workers displayed and what some people would be willingly to do as long as they are not blamed for their own mistakes. Only been staying for so long out of a sense of misplaced loyalty but not anymore…**

**Anyways, back to a happier note (this story), hope everyone liked this chapter and share your thoughts about it! The next chapter (which will contain some funny parts) should be up within a week.**


	21. Continuation of the Pro Exam

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…

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**Chapter 21 - Continuation of the Pro Exam**

John ducked just in time to avoid being hit by a flying projectile. The door was slightly ajar and he figured it was okay and safe to walk into Sai's office. He kneeled down and picked up the offending object who had earned the ire of his boss and friend He glanced down and notice that it was a magazine written in Japanese. Thanking his Japanese mother for insisting her children learn her native language as well as their father's (who was an American), John was able to identify it as one of Japan's Go magazine. He flipped it open and glanced at some of the articles.

There were reports on upcoming games, who had won certain games this week and more articles related to Go; certainly nothing that could have offended Sai. "What happened?"

Sai huffed and glared at the magazine that John was holding. "Check out page 9".

John obliged and even read aloud , _"…the Pro Exam has been going on for 4 weeks already. Many eager insei and outsiders have awaited with baited breath for this time of the year to arrive. Everyone has study and fought numerable battles on the goban with the hope of becoming a pro. However, more battles are ahead and just like last year only 3 people would be able to become pros. Who would the top three spots belong to? Correction, this reporter should say who else would emerge and take over the last two spots? After all, without needing to say it, all in the Go world know that the top spot belongs to none other than Toya Akira! He is undoubtedly the star of this year and thus far has been undefeated and will would pass the Pro Exam with no loss. Toya Akira, the 14 year old son of the Meijin, has been trained by none other than his father ever since he was old enough to hold a stone and at such a young age is already a brilliant Go player. In fact, Toya Akira is so skilled that many in the Go world had expected him to turn pro ages ago. Undoubtedly, many of the people who are taking the Pro Exam this year are wishing fervently for Toya Akira to have taken the exam last year or even waited another year…Therefore, this reporter would wish luck to the rest of the players and not to despair in the face of Toya Akira's brilliance. The ones who have not played Toya Akira yet and have for now luckily avoided loosing a game but would sooner or later face a crushing defeat at the hand of a future Meijin in-the-making are Aikawa Aki(15), Fujiwara Hikaru (14), Ochi Kosuke…Waya Yoshitake (16) and …"_

Before John could continued on, Sai interrupted with a "There!".

Scratching the back of his head, John had no idea what he was suppose to see. True, the article was biased and the writer had made his feelings quite clear who the winner of the Pro Exam was going to be but there should not have been anything to set off Sai this badly. He knew Sai was into Go and even his baby sister was into it and…Realization donned on John and he could have smacked himself on the head. Sai's sister, Hikaru!

He re-read the last part of the article and sure enough she was also taking the Pro Exam this year. That was good, wasn't it? Wasn't Sai always saying how his sister had a natural gift for it? So why was he upset that she had decided to take the Pro Exam?

Before John could question Sai further, the man continued with his mad rant, "Making the others sound like idiots who had no business playing Go. Who allowed such garbage to be published? That was just a piece trash! Does this writer even know how to play Go? Had he even seen any of the other players games? It is just not about the results, but also about the steps that were taken to reach the game. The sheer beauty of each player's move. And though Akira's is pretty good, it is still not right to just praise one bloody player and put down everyone else? And crushing defeat! As if! I bet you the others made it so far undefeated not just because of pure luck but also skills! And I would bet anything you want that _**she**_ would be the one to grab the top spot!"

The last part was shouted so loud that it had Steven, Sai's secretary, rushing in to see if everything was alright. Waving Steven away, John settled down to the hard task of calming down Sai. For such a collected and composed person, not many things could make him son mad but the writer of this article had done it and quite impressively by not only hitting the nail once but twice; once by looking down at other players of Sai's beloved Go game and two _(in John's opinion the most important point)_ by putting down Sai's baby sister. He wondered what their business competition and even the media would make of their _Ice Prince _acting this way?

Shaking thoughts of comically shocked faces out of his head, John focused once again on Sai. Upon noticing the look on his friend's face, he quickly grabbed the magazine from the desk and tightly held to it while taking a couple of steps back. It wouldn't do anyone any good for Sai to set the magazine on fire and thus cause the sprinkler's on the ceiling to turn on. How would they explain it to the fleet of firefighters that would show up? John snorted at the thought, _Sorry guys, false call! What caused the fire alarms to go on? Why, guess what? It was just a magazine that my boss set fire to! And no, despite his actions, he is not insane and does not go around setting fires. _He could just imagine how fun _**(not) **_it would be to straighten out the mess that would surely issued.

* * *

**While in Japan…**

Without having any idea of the crazy thoughts that might be running through her brother's head, Hikaru contently walked alongside Akira as they headed to the Go Association. Today was an exam day, the sky was blue and the temperature was great, not too cold and not too hot. In short, things were just great!

After the disaster of her first game, the next few ones were a bit better. At first, she did not know what to think about the myriad spectrum of players; there were ones that were so much younger than her and others who were older thought not as old as the grandpas she had played with at the Go Salon. She had rarely played face-to-face against anyone who was older than 18 but less than 30 years old, with the exception of her brother. Besides the age difference, there were also players who already had a career in another profession such as the lawyer, construction worker, salesman, mother, college student, etc. Once she had relaxed, she had been able to enjoy her games more and to appreciate the chance she had of being able to play against so many people from all walks of life.

* * *

Waya was happy about being undefeated so far in the game but he knew his streak won't last long when he eventually faced Akira and Hikaru. Even so, he would not go down without a fight! Everyone was counting Toya Akira as one of the top three players, and he knew for sure that Hikaru would take the other spot. Therefore, there was just one spot left and he was determined to be the third passer.

However, he was in a tight spot right now. He was playing against Ochi Kosuke and the kid could irritate the heck out of him. It wasn't that the kid had no talent in Go, on the contrary he was quite talented, but the same could not be said about his personality. Did the kid had to smirk at him like that? Did he had to be so obnoxious?

Before the beginning of today's game, he had bumped into Ochi. They exchanged greetings and before he knew it the kid was prattling about how great Toya Akira was and how he could not wait to face him. It was as if the brat did not even realize that today opponent was Waya himself.

"You know, grandfather and all the tutors he had hired had assured me that I am one of the best of this generation. I am quite skilled and who knows I might even be able to beat Toya Akira. But no matter what, I can assure you that I will pass the exam this year; after all, I am the top insei of Group A…"

And the kid went on and on, about the many higher dans his grandfather had hired to tutor him nightly, about how he could defeat all the lower dans, about how everyone had urged him to take the exam sooner and much more. At that point, Waya had just stopped listening. However, he was forced to pay attention once again when the brat started making comments about how it was taking Waya forever to pass the exams and ended it all by giving Waya a pityingly look and wishing him luck with the rest of his exam; it was as if it was a given that Waya would loose to him. That had made him extremely mad and had affected the beginning of his game, which was why Waya found himself in such a tight spot now.

Waya forced himself to concentrate on the goban and not on the smug look currently on Ochi's face. He took a deep breath and try to think of a way to save his clusters of stones. There had to be a way for him to live! If he lost this game, and Ochi continued his winning streak then Waya was pretty sure that the brat would take the last top spot. And Waya would have to resign himself to waiting for another year to take the exam again.

He looked up and down, to the right and the left, and at everywhere on the board…he was almost ready to give up when, _right there_, shinning brilliantly just for him was a spot that might actually save him. He took another deep breath and re-launched himself into the game. He was not going down!

An hour later, Waya was able to breath a sigh of relief when both of them finished counting their territories. He had won by a moku! A moku! It was sort of surreal. Before Waya could say anything, like "it was a good game", his opponent rushed out of the room in quite a hurry. He wondered if the kid was heading to the washroom; it was a known fact at the insei classes, that whenever Ochi lost (rarely nowadays) he would lock himself in one of the bathroom stalls and would make some weird scratching noises.

Shrugging his shoulders at Ochi oddness, Waya stood up and went to stamp his victory on the recording sheet. He would head downstairs and see who he could talk into getting some sushi as a sort of small celebration for winning such a close game.

* * *

If anyone had asked Waya who he thought was the most dangerous player in the Pro Exam, he would have said Hikaru. However, many in the Go world were still blind to Hikaru's skill and saw Toya Akira as the biggest threat.

Some envy Toya Akira for being lucky enough to have a Meijin father who had trained him ever since the age of two, and thought that if they were in the same position, _then surely they would have been just as accomplished_. While others were able to separate the child from the famous parent and just envy him for his Go skill. Regardless of what one thought about Toya Akira, there was one thing most parties had in common, apprehension when playing against him; all approached with extreme caution when the opponent across the board was Toya Akira.

On the other hand, most of Hikaru's opponents did not think much about her until it was too late. The girl looked nice and sweet enough and was no threat to anyone. She usually started her games even and then would seem to be close to loosing before slowly winning again. Surely, if she really was a threat, than she should have won as easily as the young Toya? However, as the weeks passed and Hikaru continued her winning streak, many started suspecting that there was more to Hikaru that what the eye could see. Eventually she and Akira remained the only undefeated exam takers.

As more time passed, opinions started changing about Hikaru; some even though that Hikaru might be a hidden Go prodigy. Noone could remain undefeated throughout the exam with just luck. Therefore, everyone could not wait for Hikaru and Akira to meet over a goban. Many wondered who would win? Would the Go thoroughbred Toya Akira win or the up until now unknown Fujiwara Hikaru? No matter what, many thought it was bound to be quite an interesting game when two such players clashed over the Go board.

* * *

**A/N: Hi all. I didn't get the chance on the previous chapter to thank everyone for sticking to this story! This chapter is up so soon as a thank you from me to everyone! Especially thanks is given to **_Cassa-Andra _**for the review and the wishes.**

**And how was this chapter? I could not resist including that tidbit between Sai and John; I wavered on and off about whether to keep or delete this part but at the end they both won. Also, with reassurances from the doctor and Akiko, Sai did not go too nuts when he found out about that 1st**** day incident (part of the previous chapter was to show that like everyone else, Hikaru was not immune to nerves).**


	22. The end of the exam

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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**Chapter 22 - The end of the exam**

The much anticipated day dawned grey and windy; not long after lunch break was over, rain had started pouring in buckets from the sky. However, not many of the people in the room where the last games of the Pro Exam was conducted were paying much attention to the outside world, especially when such an interesting battle was going on _in_ that very room, on one of the many gobans placed throughout the room.

It was so quiet in the room that if a tiny pin dropped on the floor that very instant everyone would have heard it. The battle that had been raging in the middle of the room had finally ended; one player had emerged with the title of being "undefeated" and the other player with the knowledge of having fought a worthy battle and should therefore feel no shame.

Thought not many players had seen the beginning of Akira's and Hikaru's game, everyone did see the shocking ending. The game had been mostly even, then started leaning towards one player near the end of the game when all of a sudden the tables switched and within a couple of moves the one who had the upper hand had been forced to scramble to keep up. Many of their peers did not understand how it happened, but the older pro coordinators were quite amazed at the game. They were speechless at the sheer beauty and prowess that such young players had exhibited; it as one of the best games they had ever seen in a pro exam and to them it was a sign that not only was a new wave coming but that Akira and Hikaru were heading that wave. The Go world better be prepared because they were going to be in for quite a surprise.

* * *

**Earlier, before the end of the game…**

Akira bit his lip and told himself to calm down. It felt as if he had been waiting an eternity for this game. He thought of plans and back-up plans before he made any moves; he thought about how each hand could help him by gaining or defending territories for him and for his opponent. And he kept an eye out for Hikaru's specious moves; unlike many of her previous opponents, Akira knew from the very beginning how well she could play and how good she was in turning previously thought bad hands into excellent ones.

In fact, during this game, Hikaru had already laid down some of her traps but luckily he had noticed and avoided them. He just hoped he had not missed anything else and that his death would not be an imminent and painful one. It was exciting and at the same time nerve wrecking to pit his skill against someone of his age and without knowing for a fact that he would emerge the winner (as it had been before meeting Hikaru). It was true that Akira had not been able to beat higher dans like his father but when it came to people near his age and the lower dans he had no problem winning a game from them. It wasn't that he was boasting, it was more of stating a fact; after all, he worked hard and diligently at Go ever since he was barely old enough to hold a stone.

* * *

Hikaru fought down the urge to chew on her lower lip too. Just a couple of more moves, just a bit more…Unlike most of her previous opponents, not only did Akira know her Go, some of her techniques and preferred moves, he also knew about her propensity to make seemingly bad moves turn into good ones later in the game. She had tried to set a couple of traps and even threw in some pretended ones to tried to throw him off. However, no matter what, Akira had seemed to either see the traps for what they were or his own instincts had warned him against them.

* * *

His hand hovered over the goban, Hikaru had just made a move that was neither defensive nor offensive, but was neither a bad or good move. In response, one part of Akira wanted to place his own stone at a certain spot, but for some reason, another part of him was screaming at him that it would be a mistake to do it. If he placed his stone where he wanted it, in a couple of moves he could win the fight that was going on in that lower left corner; he had looked at all angles and could not see a way for Hikaru to save that corner without sacrificing the fight on the upper right corner. However, knowing of Hikaru's ability to read ahead, he was a bit wary about going along with his original plans….

Half an hour later, Akira would have liked to curse really loud. From having the upper hand at the lower left corner, it had somehow turned into him not only loosing that territory but also into having to scramble to keep Hikaru away from controlling the upper right corner as well.

* * *

_Phew, _thought Hikaru. She had managed to captured the lower left corner as well. The rest of the board was controlled somehow evenly by both Akira and her. So, in order to win this game she had to somehow gain more territories. There weren't many options left so she was tempted to try a new move on Akira. She had previously stumbled upon it when playing against Sai-nii; at the time she had seen the move too late into the game. However, in this game, it was different. _Should she set the plan into motion?_

It was a tricky thing to do in the sense that if her opponent did not move _exactly_ as she wanted them to from now on then she would not be able to spring the trick and all her planning would go to waste. However, if she was successful, victory would be closer.

* * *

Akira's eyes flew towards Hikaru. _How did this even happen? _One minute he had been sure he had the upper hand and although the game was close, it was still in his favor. The next thing he knew, as he set his stone down, a pattern started emerging in front of his very own eyes that set his heart beating thrice as fast. _Did Hikaru see it? Was she aiming all along for it?_

When emerald eyes met his, he knew the answer. _Shoot, shoot, shoot! _His eyes flew all over the board, when did she start planning this? Was it 10 moves, 15 or 20 moves before this? Was it when he was diverted by the skirmish going on the upper right corner? Was it during the time when he tried to take over the middle of the board? _And most importantly was it too late? _

* * *

10 minutes later, the 1st one to notice the emerging pattern that Akira had seen were the adult coordinators; they were both shocked speechless, _did the girl actually read this far ahead? Did those previously weird placement of stones meant to lead to this conclusion?_

Not far behind, Waya also saw it. Normally, like everyone else, he would have thought that the game was hopeless and that Akira was going to win. However, knowing Hikaru, he had been looking at everywhere on the goban. She had made some pretty much expected moves but then there had been the oddly placed stones throughout the game. At first, it had looked hopeless since Akira was countering all her moves but then somehow, slowly, he saw the tide change. He saw Akira's pause, Hikaru fire-lit emerald eyes and then he knew, in his guts, _somehow, someway_, Hikaru had gained the upper hand. In a couple of more moves, he saw the pattern emerge, saw Hikaru trap spring and catch its prey and saw it hold tightly to its captive despite the latter effort to escape. At the end, it was just too late.

* * *

At the end of the Pro Exam, only two players had been able to bring their games to Yose when their opponents was Hikaru; during the 1st game and the last game of the exam. During the first three games, both exam coordinators had done their best to keep track of everyone's game; they used it as an indicator of how far everyone would progress throughout the exam. Fujiwara's Hikaru's 1st game had composed of a lot of sloppy moves intermingled with not great ones, but just good moves who in the end netted a win for the girl. The next two games had been okay but not as great as Toya Akira's. Afterwards, to their shame, both coordinators had kept their eyes more on Toya Akira and thus did not bother to pay close attention to the games the girl had played. _They both wondered if they had been more attentive, would either have seen this last game coming?_

Although Toya Akira did not play in any amateur tournaments, there had been a few pros (who were not his father's or his students) who had played Go with him and had been amazed at the child's skill. They had spread the word about his potential and said that the child was destined for greatness. In fact, when Akira reached the age of 12 year old, many swore up and down that he was on par in terms of skills with many of the lower and even with some of the middle dans. To them, there was no one else close in age to Akira that could ever defeat him in a even Go game. His future was set and with the Meijin being his teacher and the one to help polish his son's skills, there was no doubt that Akira would make waves in the Go world. In fact, it wasn't even outrageous to predict that Akira would become just like this father, the best player of his generation, and eventually the best player in the world.

Therefore, in hopes of seeing as much as possible of the leader of his generation's Go, both exam coordinators had kept their eyes on Akira and ignored Hikaru. Both wished they haven't, especially when sometime in the future, many of their friends and colleagues started asking questions about the girl. _Who was she? Did she play just as well throughout the whole exam? How far ahead could she read in a game? Did she often pull miracles at the end? Were her skills really on par with Toya Akira? Was it mere luck? _

* * *

**A/N: Hi. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Hope everyone liked this chapter. I tried not to be too long-winded about Akira's and Hikaru's game but at the same time wanted to cover some of the thoughts they each had at certain points of the game. When they met, Hikaru was the one with higher Go skills, and now though her skills have improved so have Akira's (though he still has a hard time winning against her).**

**And to clarify, the only ones who suspected there was more to Hikaru than what they saw had mainly been the players she defeated (many did not even think much about it until later in the pro exam; none of the adults involved in the exam had a clue).**


	23. The Pro Exam is over…time to relax?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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**Chapter 23 – The Pro Exam is over…time to relax?**

Ogata leaned back on his chair and try to take in what he had just seen on his computer screen; Fujiwara Hikaru had been named the top and undefeated player in this year's Go exam, in other words, she had beaten Akira. A feat many would have thought impossible.

He had played against Akira during most of the boy's life and had to admit that the boy had a lot of talent, scratch that, he was a genius. He could be said to be a natural and worked even harder to improve his skills on a daily basis. Akira's Go had always been very advanced for someone of his age, and his father had even forbidden him to play in amateur tournaments with other children, fearing that Akira might scare off or inadvertently stunt a young player's growth. Therefore, for most of Akira's life, his Go partners were his father, his father's students and sometimes other pros; there had been noone of Akira's age or even close to his age who could play evenly with the boy, or so they all thought.

Although many might have forgotten that pair of children, a boy and a girl, who had popped out of nowhere almost two years ago, Ogata himself had not. Up to this day, he still had not been able to find out who they were, at least not 100% sure. He had a theory that the one who had beaten Akira at his Go salon not once but twice was Hikaru; the old patrons had not been much help in identifying who the girl was and Akira had refused to talk about it. But there had been Ichikawa-san who had originally been more than happy to talk about the girl, but remained tight-lipped after _**"the incident", **_the one where for a couple of months afterwards, the woman had been eyeing him as if he was a child kidnapper! Of all things, a _**child kidnapper!**_

Ogata Seiji had been called all kind of names throughout his life; arrogant, jerk, inconsiderate, selfish, and much more but _**never**_ _**ever**_ a child kidnapper. He barely tolerated brats, so why would anyone in his right mind think he would bother kidnapping one? Still, he had to admit it hadn't been one of his brightest ideas to grab her in the middle of the street. But at that time, he just had one thing in his mind, Go. Whenever Go was involved he was pretty much one-track minded.

If it wasn't for the respect he had towards his sensei and fear of his sensei's wife, Ogata would have continued to push and prod until he had played a game with the girl and thus judged her skills by himself. Still distracted with thoughts of Go, he picked up his cell phone when it rang all of a sudden; without checking to see who was calling, he was instantly assaulted by the screeching of a female voice. He cringed and looked down at his watch. Shoot, he was late for a date. Sighing, he tried to calm the woman down. He would have hung up on her but he might as well get it over with; he had been thinking about breaking up with her and today's date was going to sway his decision one way or the other.

He grabbed his jacket and key and as he turned to leave, he couldn't help taking another glance at his computer screen; he was happy that his theory was right and was pretty excited that there was another young player of such caliber. It wasn't just rumors and guesses but reality. And now that the girl had officially stepped into the pro Go world, sooner or later, Ogata would have his desired game. He could not wait! Let the new wave come and he would face them head on.

* * *

However, among the rest of the Go world, reactions were a bit mixed. Many had expected Toya Akira to emerge undefeated; and there were many theories why it did not happen.

The first one, did the boy succumb to pressure and played a careless game? The ones who had seen Akira as a threat were more than happy to support this theory. They had been less than ecstatic about the buzz Akira had created, especially when a mere child had dared to challenge them. To them, Akira loosing meant that no matter how skilled the boy was, he was still a inexperience child who lost to another child, and to a mere unknown little girl.

Then there were the others who just brushed the loss away. They just laughed and figured that Akira had just stumbled a bit and will learn from it. They still expected Akira to make quite an impression from now on. After all, the child's father was Toya Koyo, the holder of many titles, including the Meijin one, what else could an offspring of Toya senior be but a genius himself? Surely, without a doubt, he would be the shiniest Go star of his generation.

Then there was the small faction in the Go world who had bothered to ask the exam coordinators for more information about that last fateful game and thus figured out that instead of one monster emerging from the Pro Exam, there might be two monsters, one by the name of Toya Akira and the other an unknown entity named Fujiwara Hikaru. Toya Akira did worry them but at least everyone knew about his existence and so had some time to adjust to the thought of him joining the Go world. All of them had heard of his skills, had even played some games with him. However, Fujiwara Hikaru was the enigma; for there to be another child with skills even more impressive than Akira's to exist was unthinkable. Still, many of them scrambled for information about Fujiwara Hikaru, but noone seemed to be able to find much. They all knew she was fourteen years old, that it was her first time taking the pro exam, that she had never been involved in the Go world until recently and noone knew the name of her sensei.

**

* * *

A week later, at the award ceremony…**

Hikaru tried not to fidget. For this occasion she had to wear one of those dresses Sai-nii had insisted on buying for her; this one was a short sleeved black dress that reached a bit pass her knees. The dress was made of some kind of soft material and the sash on her waist and the ribbon on her hair matched her eyes. She did prefer more tomboyish clothes yet didn't really mind dressing up from time to time, but disliked formal gatherings such as this one, especially when people were constantly staring at her. At least the reporters and a bunch of odd pros had backed away when it was announced that the ceremony was going to start.

"Sheesh…I hate this", Waya, seated on her left side said as he pulled on his tie. For today, he and Akira wore a suit.

"Why do we even have to be here? We are more like wallpapers since today is for awarding the older pros for doing well throughout the year", continued Waya.

And it was true; the newly minted pros were getting their certification but the main event was about handing awards out to the "Player with most straight wins", "Player who had made the most improvement", "Player with best percentage wins", and so on.

Before Waya could continued, Akira, who was on Hikaru's right, turned to them and gave them a look. Duly chastised, both Waya and Hikaru tried to pay attention as the man on the stage went on and on with his speech.

* * *

"This is so exciting, come on children smiled at the count of three; one, two and…" at three Akiko's camera flashed. She had come to the ceremony and after its ending, she had insisted on taking all their photos.

"Everyone looks so adorable", commented Waya's mother who had also attended the ceremony. Ignoring the blushes that popped up on Akira and Waya faces, Akiko agreed and took another picture; although both boys could not be considered your average teenage boys, they were _**still teenage boys **_and therefore quite embarrassed about being called _**adorable**_.

When both women were engaged in deep conversation, all three took the chance to escape; well more like two of them dragged the third away. Hikaru would not have minded staying, especially when both women started sharing stories about their children.

"…_so sweet and adorable when he was small. Use to come crying to me whenever a rainstorm occurred…"_

"…_same here. My boy was just as clinging but then he got into this stage where he wanted to act all grown up. He would seat quietly at my husband's Go discussions. Then one day when he was four, while out shopping for clothes, he saw this suit that was similar to the ones my husband's students wore and he demanded one as well. After that, for a while he wouldn't wear anything else…."_

"…_my son was just like that too, except he went through several stages where he would only wear clothes that had pictures of his favorite anime…"_

"Guys, what's the hurried? We could have waited…" said Hikaru mischievously as she noticed both Akira's and Waya's speedy pace.

"Didn't you say it was too stiffly inside and wanted fresh air?"

"Didn't you say you wanted something to drink? We can go get a drink now and I will also buy you some chocolate!"

* * *

After the awards ceremony, many could not help but notice the closeness between the Toyas' and the mysterious Fujiwara Hikaru. In fact, many eager ears could not help but hear the girl call Toya Meijin _uncle_ and his wife _auntie_. However, not many were brave enough to ask the Meijin outright if the girl was related to him by blood; the only answer they got was a nod or a word of thanks when some tried to subtly obtain information about the girl by either saying _"congrats, you must be so proud of both children for their great work in the pro exam"_ or _"you must be so happy to have such talented children"_ and more. The only ones who might have gotten a more clear answer about the relationship between him and the young girl, _a.k.a. those few brave souls that dared to outright ask him_, were not sharing any of the information the Meijin _might or might not _have told them. Still, rumors did spread from possible truths to completely outrageous ones (proving that the Go world was not as stoic as many thought and were prone to gossip and rumors too). Some of the rumors included that the girl was the daughter of some previously unknown brother of the Meijin, that her mysterious sensei was Toya Koyo himself, that she was the Toya's child who had been hidden away due to her poor health and to the one that proclaimed her as Koyo's illegitimate but genius child.

* * *

As rumor are prone to be, the ones being rumored about did not heard any of the speculations going around, at least not Akira and Hikaru. If they had, the reactions would have been various, from indignation to downright amusement. However, both children did not have a clue about the wild rumors circulating and were thus enjoying a quite peaceful day, or as peaceful as possible seeing as Hikaru was currently dragging Akira to a get-together with some of their classmates.

"Are you sure I should be going too? And should you be going too? You look a bit pale. Don't tell me you stayed up late again talking to your brother?"

In a low voice she murmured a "no, I didn't…" before adding in a chirper voice, "Anyways, did you forget that they are holding this small get-together in our honor?"

Akira mumbled something about thinking that they had probably just wanted to celebrate with her and not with him too but said it was nothing when Hikaru asked him to repeat it again since she couldn't hear him. Deciding it was best not to argue with her, he just followed Hikaru and promise to do his best to enjoy the rest of the day, even thought this would be the umpteenth congratulation party that both would be attending.

"So, Miss Pro, how does it feel?", asked Momo-chan as she set down next to Hikaru.

"Okay, nothing different. I guess it hasn't sunk in yet. I mean I know it has been weeks since the Pro Exam ended, but still…" she tried to answer as honestly as she could as she glanced around the cheerfully holiday-themed shop. One of Momo's sisters owned the coffee shop they were in and had closed it early in the afternoon just for them. Most of their classmates were here today along with some others from different classes. Since they were all middle-schoolers there were no alcoholic drinks but finger food were served along with soda, tea and juice. For entertainment, someone had brought in a karaoke machine, board games and video games.

"There are so many people here today; I didn't expect that many people to come".

"Well, at first we just wanted to throw a small party for both Toya-kun and you so it was going to be only our class, but then somehow many who also knew you from other classes also wanted to come. And people started asking if they could bring their friends from the same classes and it somehow turned into this", Momo-chan gestured around the place. "At the end, this is like a celebratory party for you guys becoming pros and then also a sort of holiday party as well. You don't mind, right? And you don't have that much color in your face, are you okay?"

"I am fine. Why is everyone asking me that question? Do I look that bad? And thank you guys so much for the party too. And no, I don't mind the quantity of people, especially since I haven't had time to hang out with everyone for a while."

Momo smiled with relief after hearing the answers to her barrage of questions, "No you don't look that bad. Just a bit pale, maybe it is just the cold winter. Anyways, shouldn't you go and help poor Toya-kun?"

"Huh?", Hikaru turned around and looked at where her friend was nodding. Catching sight of Akira, she almost burst out laughing; the poor guy was surrounded by a bevy of girls and he was stuck in the middle. He probably didn't know most of the girls surrounding him, though she guessed they were all doing their best to solve that small matter, what with all of them talking at once in an effort to get their names out first.

"Why? I think it is good that Akira gets to know more people around our age. He is usually very serious and sometimes too much like an adult".

"I am not saying that he shouldn't chat with others, but don't you mind that those _**others**_ happen to be girls who are very interested in Toya-kun?"

Hikaru's only response was a shrug which had Momo sighing exasperatedly. "But aren't you two dating?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh of her own, Hikaru set down her drink, "Momo-chan, I have already told you a gazillion times that Akira and I are not like that. Besides, I have tons of things to worry about and am not interested in dating."

"But if you were interested in dating, wouldn't he be the ideal boyfriend? I mean he is good-looking, he is smart and he is super nice to you!"

"Akira is nice to everyone".

Momo opened her mouth to argue that last point, but then closed it when she realized that it was true that Akira was nice and polite to everyone but he was different when around Hikaru; more relaxed, more approachable and… just more caring. She opened her mouth to point out the rest of the differences but then close it. Maybe it was not a good idea to push, after all, didn't one of her older sister said that sometimes _it was better to step back and just observe; _by interfering now, she could make it worse_…_with a nod to herself, Momo decided to just wait and see and later she would help if needed.

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A/N: Hi. Thanks lots for reading and reviewing! Had a bit of a problem writing due to many reasons…but the fact that everyone kept reading and commenting did encourage me lots. So what did everyone think about this chapter? **

**The last part of this chapter was to sort of answer what many readers have been asking me; about whether Akira and Hikaru would be a pair…I am still debating. For now, I don't see it but who knows in the future? Also, Happy Holidays! As a thank you for caring for this story, this chapter is a bit longer than the last few ones and I will try to at least post another chapter before the end of the year. **


	24. Barely in the pro world and already…

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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**Chapter 24 – Barely in the pro world and already… **

Stifling a yawn, Hikaru followed Akira and Waya into one of the break rooms located in the Go Institution. An hour from now, Akira would be playing his first pro game. He had wanted to come in early but told her she didn't need to do it too; still, she had insisted on coming to lend him her support just in case it was needed even though Akira did not look nervous but pretty calm. However, she doubted that he was as calm as he projected, after all, _who in their right mind would want to show up an hour earlier than necessary?_

When passing the front desk, they had bumped into Waya who had been called in by the Institution this morning since it seemed there were some information missing among some of the forms he had handed to them a couple of days ago. With no plans for the day, Waya decided to join them; they were all going to head upstairs and relax until it was time for Akira's game to begin. Akira had brought a book along so he could read a bit while Hikaru and Waya were going to play some Speed Go.

If any of them had an inkling of who they would meet on the way to the elevators, all three of them would have taken the stairs or would have arrived even earlier just to avoid the woman.

* * *

"Oh, do be careful silly girl", the woman said as she released her companion (the one she had grabbed onto to avoid ending on the floor) and stretched to her full height, barely a 5' 2'', and glared down at Hikaru.

Hikaru did not even get the chance to point out that it was she who had rain into her and not vice-versa when the woman turned her gaze to Akira.

"Oh, this is just perfect. Tashikawa Ann from_"Go Entertainment",_ congratulations on passing the pro exam. Toya-kun, your parents and your senpai Seiji must be so proud. Here, smile for the camera", she added as her companion made use of his professional looking camera.

After a couple of flashes, the woman continued blithely, "I know that you have a game today, but there is still plenty of time before that happens. Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?"

Not waiting for an answer the woman continued, "Your fans, myself included of course, have been waiting for this moment. So what are your plans? You must be so excited. Are you nervous? Oh, but what am I saying, you are probably not nervous at all. You will just blaze through the Go world like you did at the pro exams."

At this point, Waya could not help but to let out a snort. At this, the woman stiffened and turned her gaze on him. "Oh, and who are you?", she asked in an obnoxious tone and a look that conveyed quite clearly that she thought he was beneath her notice.

Instead of being insulted at being pushed into and then ignored, Hikaru had found it all quite amusing and was wondering if the _Seiji_ she was referring to was Ogata Seiji? If yes, did it mean that they were very close, close enough to use first names? Before she could dwell more on it, she sensed Waya's hackles rising and in an effort to defuse a fight, "I am sorry, but we already have some plans. If you will excuse us," she added as she grabbed both boys' hands ready to tug them away.

However, the woman had other ideas and grabbed onto Akira's other arm. "You again! Why don't you and your little friend go find something worthwhile to do. I, on the other hand, have important business with Toya-kun."

"I am sorry, but we really must be going. If you wish for an interview, you must request it from the Go Association and they can arrange a better time for we to meet", added the ever so polite Akira as he tried to free his arm. On the other hand, the not so-polite woman continued to hold onto Akira while giving him a brilliant smile.

"But since this is such a great coincidence, we must take this opportunity and talk. There is this little café by the end of the street…"

Exasperated and amazed at the woman's gall, Hikaru helpfully pointed out, "You do know that we are all underage? Which is why you need either the Association's permission or our guardian's to be able to interview us?"

"Why would I wish to interview you? I am here to talk to_ the_ Go prodigy Toya-kun and not you."

At this, Waya gave her an incredulous look, "Don't you know that Hikaru here was _undefeated_ throughout the pro exam? Meaning she beat Toya".

She waved that away as if nothing, "I am sure that was just a mistake, no child could beat Toya-kun, especially someone like her. Why, Toya-kun is so nice I wouldn't be surprised if he took pity on you and let a nobody like you win. And whoever your teacher is, he must be very disappointed to have such a pupil!"

Gasps of indignation were heard at this insult. Both Akira and Waya were not only outraged for Hikaru's sake but also for all pros sake; no one who respected Go would willingly throw a game away just because they pity their opponents. While Hikaru though not happy about the woman looking down on her, it was nothing compared to how angry she was at the insult she had inadvertently thrown at her brother.

However, before anyone could say anything, a deep male voice injected itself into the conversation. "No self-respected Go player would ever throw away a game for pity. You insult us all with your insinuations."

All heads whipped around to look at the newcomer. The woman herself almost gasped in delight when she realized who it was; she had been trying in vain for the last few weeks to contact him and here he had sought her out himself.

Ogata Seiji, 9-dan, stepped into their view. He had stepped out of the elevators and rounding the corner, had caught the last part of what seemed to be an intense conversation going on; his eyes did not miss much either, he saw both Akira's and Waya's outraged looks and even saw Hikaru's quick flash of hurt.

At the silence that followed his entrance, he directed his gaze at one of the other adults present, _Tashikawa Ann_, one of his ex-girlfriend's.

Tingling laughter greeted him as the woman tried to laugh it off, "Seiji you have quite a sense of humor. I will never dream of insulting _real _Go players." And it was not hard to miss who she was not calling a "real Go player" as her eyes shifted over to Hikaru and Waya.

Stepping in front of Hikaru, Ogata added in a cool voice, "Then I guess we are lucky that we are all real professional Go players. Well, that is, except some outsiders". And it was not hard to miss who Ogata was counting as an outsider as he gazed pointedly at the woman.

Her smile still in place, the woman swatted Ogata playfully, "You are such a joker. Anyways, what do you and Toya-kun think about a quick interview? We can do dinner and talk about this article I have been meaning to write about the Meijin and his talented students. You can both give me some quotes and an inside view about the group's dynamics and…"

Without any qualms, Ogata did not bother to wait for the woman to pause for a breath before he insincerely offered a "Sorry" and a "We really need to get going."

Unperturbed, the woman continued, "Then how about drinks tonight? Since Toya-kun is underage, it would be just you and me?"

Pretending not to hear her, Ogata gave her his back and herded Hikaru, Akira and Waya back towards the elevators.

* * *

Usually Akira, Hikaru and Waya would have taken umbrage at being treated like sheep seeing as how the man was herding them away, but since it also meant leaving the presence of that rude Tashikawa woman, they were more than happy at playing sheep this time. Hikaru took a quick peek at their shepherd; from the previous conversation, it seemed that he and Tashikawa knew each other. Well, at least the woman implied that they knew each other and might have even dated. For some reason, it was hard for Hikaru to imagine a Go fanatic like Ogata Seiji interested in something else besides Go. And another thing was that if she had to picture Ogata's girlfriend, she would imagine someone who was more…mature…quieter…sophisticated? Perhaps someone who was better at reading his mood? Someone who loved Go as much as he did?

* * *

As Ogata Seiji moved the children towards the elevator, he wondered what had possessed him to have dated the infernal woman. She was pretty looking but she was also self-conceited and selfish. Her father was rich and she delighted in spending his money left and right; from shopping at the most expensive places, traveling extensively and much more. At first he had not minder her personality since she had several points in her favor in addition to her pretty looks. First, there was the fact that she did not want to be tied down to a permanent and serious relationship; it wasn't that he did not want a serious relationship, it was just that he was not ready to get married yet. Also, she was a Go writer, which to Ogata meant that she would understand his work and the hours he dedicated to it (most of his previous girlfriends had made quite a fuss about him not paying enough attention to them).

However, barely a few weeks from the time they started dating, she started dropping little tidbits about how great marriage was, how she would make an ideal wife and mother (going so far to even compare herself to Toya Akiko), and then how great of a husband and father he could be. When he didn't take the bait, she showed up at most of his games or Go events he was scheduled to oversee and then proceeded to make a nuisance of herself by following him everywhere barraging him with questions about Go and his games; he did not mind talking about Go to anyone, except that he knew from experience that whatever he said would go in one ear and then come out the other, which made him wonder why was the woman writing for a Go magazine? At least she seemed to know the basics about the game but showed no interest in knowing more. Then the last straw that broke the camel's back happened when the woman stopped by his sensei's house, _uninvited_; luckily the group discussion had been changed to another day that week and out of habit he had headed there without remembering it. If it had been the correct day, more than his sensei and his wife would have been witnesses to what he considered a horrifying moment; it had been one of the most embarrassing days of his life when she appeared and acted as his future wife who had come to paid her respects to her would-be-husband sensei and wife (ak.a, the closest parents figure he had in Tokyo). After the shock had worn off, he had taken her aside and let her know in no uncertain terms they were not going to work out. From then on, he had avoided meeting her.

* * *

On the other hand, Tashikawa Ann reaction upon finally seeing Ogata was pure delight; she had been trying in vain to get in touch with him for several weeks and chucked the unresponsiveness to the man's crazy schedule. Still, she was upset that he had not contacted her sooner. After all, she had been very patient and had done her best to show him how much of a perfect match they were; why, the last time they saw each other, she had gone to pay her respects to Toya Koyo. Imagine her outrage when Seiji had all but outright kicked her out of the house. The man was quite smart, but there were certain things that he needed to learn more about; such as the fact that she was the only woman he should think about.

Ogata Seiji was a perfect husband candidate for her; he was young, handsome, smart and above all, a top player in his chosen field. No ordinary man would do for her. And he just needed a bit of more time to see that she was the perfect wife for him. Wishing to win extra girlfriend points, she even went to the trouble of visiting his sensei and wife, all in an effort to win the people who were closest to him to her side; and it was not an easy feat!

During those few minutes in the Toya's residence, she had learned something that drove her just crazy. Ogata Seiji had asked her for names of good bakeries and at first, she had thought that he was buying them for her and when no sweet morsels had been presented to her, she guessed he must had been too embarrassed to step into a sweet shop. However, not long after she had unintentionally found from time to time receipts of many different bakeries in his jacket's pockets. And if she was not getting them and he did not like sweets, than who had been getting them? Still, no matter how much she wished to know, she did not outright ask him since she did not want to seem like a snooper.

To gain entrance into the Toyas' residence, she had to sort of tell a half-truth to the housekeeper who had answered the door; she and Ogata were suppose to be coming today to see Toya Koyo to share some happy news with her boyfriend's most respected sensei. However, she had been running late (which explained why they had come separately) and that she was late because she had stopped to pick up a gift basket of fruits for the Toyas'.

And when she was finally allowed to enter the house, she caught a snipped of conversation between Toya Akiko and Ogata; she had being thanking him for the sweets he had brought again. "…Hikaru loves the sweets you have been bringing, especially the ones from last time."

"You mean the ones from _Baked Delights_. I can stop by there next time."

"You don't have to go out of your way for them. You know she does not hate you or anything, so no need for more presents."

"Don't worry about it, I often pass by that store on my way here." All of which Ann knew was a lie! To get there from his apartment to the bakery, he would need at least an extra 20 minutes driving north, before he had to turn back south towards his apartment and his sensei's house. The fact that he was willing to waste extra time said a lot to her of how important that Hikaru woman was to him.

Calming down a bit, she reasoned that maybe he was not interested in the woman so much as to whom the woman was related to; his teacher and his wife were probably trying to arrange a marriage between him and their relative, but seeing how much Seiji respected his sensei, he still did not know how to turn them down gently. Well, no fear, she was here, and will show them that Seiji already had her. With that in mind, she was getting ready to make her presence known, when the next part threw out whatever calm she had gained out the window.

"Let me get the tea ready along with some of the pastries you brought for us. And I will put the rest in the fridge since Hikaru and Akira won't be back for a while; they are helping out in one of their school's club."

After school club? Wasn't Toya Jr. in middle school or something? Seiji had been buying baked goods not only for some other female but for an idiotic middle schooler? She had been so close to snapping at him there and then! However, the timely arrival of Toya Koyo inquiring about whom else was at the door forced her to announce herself and to greet them with her most charming smile.

During the next few days she found out that the brat was a newly minted Go player who had defeated Toya Akira in the last Pro Exam and was thus seen by some as the next big thing that joined the Go world. It certainly did not bring the brat into her good graces when one took into account that she had the one thing Ann lacked that was able to hold and retain her Go obsessive Seiji's attention for sure, Go. That ancient game was forever a thorn in her side; when she had been a child, she had tried to learn the game to make her father and brother happy but found it plain boring. She just didn't see what that game had that would hold both of her businessmen's father and brother's attention. Still, it was a game that the men in her life loved and she was smart enough not to show her dislike for the game in front of them.

* * *

Shaking herself back to the present and thus back to the Go Institution, Tashikawa Ann, lifted her chin and refused to look right or left, confident that noone but the photographer (who was not stupid enough to repeat what he saw unless he wished to be permanently out of a job) had seen the awful way she had been treated. No matter, she would forgive Seiji, even though during the past she had gotten rid of boyfriends much quicker and cruelly for lesser crimes. Seiji was just confused and he needed to come to his senses. All in all, her current situation was all _that horrid brat's_ fault. She just needed to expose that brat for what she was; nodding to herself in resolution, she pulled her cell phone out and used all her connections to dig out some dirt about _that _little monster.

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**A/N: Here is a long chapter 24 to make up for the fact that I wasn't able to get this chapter out sooner. And though I am not sure when the next chapter will be out, I will do my best to get it out soon.**

Also, thanks for the comment about my grammar (they are probably more errors in this chapter too). I usually don't spot the rest of the mistakes 'til after I published the chapter and not before… *shakes head* I would like to fix it, but not sure when...it all depends on how much free time I get to work on this story.

Hope everyone got to know a bit more of Tashikawa Ann (did anyone noticed she was the one screeching at Ogata in the last chapter?); she is quite spoiled rotten and that thinks the world revolves around her and noone else. Her father is very rich and pretty much fulfills all of her wishes, so she is use for things going the way she wants them to; and as of now she wants Ogata Seiji. And for someone else to capture his interest besides her, pretty much pisses her off. Also, she was looking for a scapegoat to blame for her lack of progress with Ogata, and unfortunately, Hikaru happened to be the one she set the blame on, no matter how stupid it is to blame a middle-schooler...

**Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing. And Happy New Year!**


	25. Stumbling

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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**Chapter 25: Stumbling…**

Hikaru tried to clamp down on the panic that kept rising despite her best efforts to keep it at bay; it seemed as if a mass of butterflies were doing some kind of dance in her stomach. Today was her very first official pro match, well it was more of a welcoming game in where all the new pros played with a reverse komi against a much a higher ranked player. Just last week, Akira had his very first game against the Oza titleholder.

Akira hadn't looked that nervous and had no problem making his presence known on the goban. However, in the end, it finished with Akira's lost but she heard many of the whispers that were going around on one of the observation room's where she had been sitting watching the game. Many of the pros who had attended had reacted in a shocking manner upon witnessing what could be called a brutal play by a titleholder upon a newcomer.

She had even heard Ogata Seiji say that "the old coot had expected to play some kind of Shidou-Go game against Akira but ended up almost burnt..and had reacted in such a manner on the board in an effort to save face". Ogata had then went on to explain that although noone expected a newcomer to win, it was still common knowledge that their opponent would usually tried not to slaughter the new pro on the very 1st game; which was why many of the people in the room where shocked when the Oza started attacking so savagely near the middle of the game when he realized Akira was not someone he could trifled with.

Taking a deep breath Hikaru forced her mind back to the present, back to her own game and to focus on the man seated across from her, the one known as Honinbo Kuwabara. She tried not to fidget or to look at the door, wishing that her brother was across the hallway; she knew that his mere presence would give her strength.

Come on, I can do this. Mentally, she went over the list of things**_ not_** to do:

_Don't think too much about why you haven't had a good chat with your brother for ages._

_Don't think about anything else but the goban in front of you._

_Don't think about the weird nightmares you have been having._

_Don't think about what that mean woman told you._

_Don't over think._

_Don't panic._

_And most of all, don't throw up!_

It might sound silly, but she felt as if there were a _**positive Hikaru**_ and a _**negative Hikaru**_ arguing in her head. Despite her best efforts, one kept going over all the bad things that have happened or might happen in the future; thoughts of failure and disappointment kept swimming back into her conscious thoughts. It didn't help that the words from that Tashikawa woman kept echoing in her mind, _"...whoever your teacher is, he must be very disappointed to have such a pupil…..whoever your teacher is, he must be very disappointed to have such a pupil...whoever your teacher is, he must be very disappointed to have such a pupil…disappointed in you!"_.

Was that the reason why her brother barely tolerated talking to her now? It had been weeks since he had spoken to her on the cell for more than 5 minutes; when it had happened the 1st time she had didn't think much about it, and when it had happened a 2nd time, she brushed it away as him being busy, and when it had happened a 3rd time she figured everyone had their day when they were just tired and didn't want to talk much. However, when it happened a fifth, sixth, seventh time and so on, she knew that something was wrong. And as the weeks passed, eventually the 5 minutes turned into tri-weekly calls, then once in a week, then once every two weeks and then nothing. And now, it was barely e-mails.

She had tried asking him whether he had any problems but he had just brushed her off and told her to be good and not to worry about him. She wanted to scream at him to just come out and tell her the truth.

Was he really disappointed in her? But what had she done to make him abandon her again? She was trying really hard to a good girl. He couldn't be upset with her about school; she didn't skip classes, did all her homework, had good grades and got along with everyone. Did he think she was misbehaving at home? But she had subtly asked her aunt and uncle and they seemed very happy with her. The only thing that was left was her nii-san's beloved game, Go; did he thought she was taking it lightly? Making fun of it? Not working hard enough? Was that why he had stopped playing Go with her on the internet and through the phone? And now that she thought about it, the calls pretty much stopped after she had described to him her game with Akira. Was that Tashikawa person right? Was he disappointed in her and didn't know how to tell her so he was avoiding her? If yes, then it was very important for her to win this game. No matter what, she had to win it; if she did, would he be happy with it? Would he at least dislike her a little bit less?

* * *

**In the present, at the observation room..**.

"What in the world is she doing?", Ogata asked noone in particular.

"I am not sure…" answered Akira.

"She is being so… aggressive from the very start", added Waya.

"This is not her Go," supplied Akira.

* * *

**Years ago…**

No matter how hard she called for her mommy, daddy and onii-chan they never came back for her. No matter where she looked, she couldn't find them. No matter how hard she worked to be the best at any task that was given to her, she could not see a glimpse of her beloved family.

Then she heard the whispering around her, the pitying glances, and the hushes that descended on a room when she made her presence known. She had stopped asking the landlady where her family was after she caught the woman gossiping with one of their far and distant neighbors:

"It has been at least a year, how long is she going to stay with you?"

"I suppose until she is old enough to care for herself".

"Won't the rest of her family miss her?"

"Highly doubtful, as her aunt is paying me to keep her here, as far away from her as possible. The first time I called to make a report about how the child was doing, the woman threw quite a fit over the phone, telling me to just do my job and to stop bothering her."

"Are they worried about the girl's bad luck rubbing on them? That aside, I have never seen a child who can sit still for such a long time. Gives me the creeps every time I come to see you and she is sitting on the porch when I get here and when I leave. Does she do anything else?"

"I think she is waiting for her parents and that brother of hers to walk through the door any minute."

"Parents? I thought you said they were dead?"

"Yes, they are; but I am not sure if she understands what death means."

"Putting that aside, if she has a brother, why is the aunt dumping you with her and not with him? Is he the same age too?"

"No, I think he is much older than her, probably a college student."

"Ah…that makes more sense then. He is probably a selfish brat who is too busy partying like those no good kids around my house."

At that point, Hikaru had snapped and had yelled at them that "onii-chan is not like that. He is the best brother in the world and he would come for me soon."

* * *

**Back to the present…**

With her own words from the past echoing back at her, Hikaru straightened her spine. She had to throw all her doubts aside; she was not a scare baby anymore. And she had people who loved her; heading that list was her brother, followed by her new family, and friends. Regardless of what_ had_ _happened,_ _was happening_ or _would happen_, she knew for a fact that she was not alone anymore.

Come on, Hikaru, let's think about this rationally. There was nothing she could do about the vague yet scary nightmares that have been pledging her recently, but she knew that trying to overanalyze them would do her no good and she would deal with them later. Next, she knew that there was a completely rational reason why Sai-nii had not been in touch more often; it was probably due to overworking and as soon as she graduated from college, she would help alleviate his workload. She could just imagine him, shaking his head at her for even thinking that he would ever abandon her; in fact, for all she knew, this was just one of her brother crazy schemes and he would pop out of nowhere any day now and surprise her with news that he was finally able to move to Japan.

With many of her top bothersome and imminent problems mostly solved in her head, Hikaru turned her attention back to the now, back to her game. It was about halfway through and she made a mess of it all. Was it too late? When she finally looked at all the moves she had done, she wanted to bang her head against a hard surface. What had she been thinking when she placed her stones there, there and there? It was as if a headless chicken had been playing in her place! She doubted anyone would compare her Go to her nii-san's which was precise and graceful while her own was anything _but_; however, she was not someone who attacked so blindly! What had she done?

Okay, taking a deep breath, she tried to shake the panic out. She made herself focus and told her old self to come back; she needed to find a path for her stones to survive. It looked like a dead end, but she knew that it could not be so; _she would not allow it to be so_. There was an open path, she just needed a crack and from there on she would forge an opening for her stones to live. With her own hands, she would find that path and create her own universe. She was not going to lose without a fight.

* * *

**In the observation room…**

"I think whatever was wrong, seems to be okay now. She is playing like her old self," said a relieved Akira.

"Yeah, she must have been just nervous", added Waya.

From what he could see, Ogata though the girl was going to lose and by a large margin.

He asked noone in particular, "Isn't it too late already?"

Both Akira and Waya turned to give him a look.

"It is never too late," supplied Akira.

"There are still things Hikaru can do to bring the game back to her side. In fact, do you remember that time when Hikaru was playing against…?" and Waya went on and on recollecting past games and moves of Hikaru's.

Raising one eyebrow at both boys out of this world optimism, Ogata turned his attention back to the screen. He had been hoping to see for himself how well the girl played; up to this day, he had still been unable to either have a game with her or to observe in person her playing against a good opponent. However, he knew she was quite skilled, but did not know much more about her Go. From rumors, he had heard that her Go was strong (even stronger than Akira's) and that her Go at times was similar to Shusaku's. During the times he had stopped by the Toya's house, the girl had not shown any hatred towards him, in fact, she was quite friendly. But then again, no matter how friendly she seemed, whenever his sensei's Go study group met, the girl would not join them; she did not outright refuse any invitation, but would instead make up excuses from having a previous engagement, to having schoolwork, to having a "girls only time" with Akiko and much more. Some of his sensei's students had thought that the girl was just shy and did not feel comfortable being stuck in a room with a bunch of males, but her friendly greetings, comfortable interaction and willingness to bring them tea and snacks proven that theory wrong. And whenever they stayed for dinner, she had absolutely no problem chatting and interacting with them.

So they all shrugged it off and agreed that maybe it was just a coincidence that she happened to have a tons of things to do whenever the study group met. However, being a suspicious self, Ogata doubted that many _coincidences_ could happen; for some reason the girl was definitely avoiding being part of their study group. The question was why?

* * *

Hikaru caught herself chewing on her lower lip again; she couldn't help it. She kept her gaze steady on the goban and wondered if the Honinbo saw what she was up to; would he fall for her trap? He probably wouldn't since he was a pro but…There was an opening for him, would he take the bait?

If he did take the bait, she could move over here and then there; it would create a small opening for her. But if he was not tempted, then did she have enough time to set up another one? What else could she do? There must be something…

* * *

Kuwabara, better known as the Honinbo, almost choked on the sip of tea he had just taken. He had personally requested the Go Institution for this game with hopes of seeing for himself one of the players heading the new wave. He had not played or seen any of her games, but that one time when he had passed her by the elevators during the Pro Exam, he had felt something from her; his senses had tingle and told him she was someone to watch.

Many would have laughed at him for believing in _"this tingle",_ but he had not lived this long for nothing; he had learned to trust his senses. After all, it was not just due to skills but also instincts that had made him who he was today.

He had looked forward to today's game and as they started playing, he had become a bit suspicious at the way the child played so aggressively. Was she trying to throw him off his stride? Was she trying to show she was not afraid of a pro? But then as the game progressed, the thought crossed his mind that he had just given her too much credit; maybe she was good but not great. Even so, he had dismissed that last thought and did his best to be on guard. And sometime halfway through the game, that tingle surfaced again and her style of play changed from aggressive moves that did nothing but lose territories to more purposeful ones. Now there were moves that defended and attacked and that helped her gain a bit of territory. There were also tricky moves that lured lesser player's to fall for them; yet, he saw that trap and the one following it and had neatly avoided both of them.

However, it was her last move that had almost made him choke; she brought a previously large chunk of dead stones to life. He narrowed his eyes in an effort to see if it was mere luck or did she actually plan it? Tracing their steps back, he went all the way back to that move that had produced that tingle almost halfway through the game; he was sure that single move was the one responsible for this latest development. If the girl had managed to read this far ahead, he was quite impressed. He was currently winning, but she was doing her hardest to catch up to him.

* * *

**Back in the observation room…**

"Ha! I told you, did you see it?", Waya triumphantly asked Akira.

"Yes. I wonder when she was planning this?", Akira asked as he went over all her moves.

"Planning? Are you telling me it was not plain luck?"

"Ogata-san, noone can be that lucky."

Whatever response Ogata was going to give was hushed away as the other people in the room turned to give Waya and Akira a **_look_**. Apparently they were talking too much and while he doubted anyone would _dare_ to tell him to be quiet, Ogata thought it was more prudent to concentrate on the game too.

* * *

**Much later…**

"Not bad, not bad at all. However, next time, I hope I play the real you from beginning to end." Those were the last words Hikaru heard as her opponent left the room. She had tried so hard to make up for the territories she had given up but ran out of time and it ended with her lost. She wished she could re-do that game; next time, she promised herself, she would do better.

As she got up, she wondered who she could talk into reviewing the game immediately with her. She winced when she thought about the many mistakes she had made, but knew that even if it was painful, she had to go over them; one never knew what one could learn from them.

While Hikaru was a bit upset with herself for playing the way she did during the first half of the game, everyone else was more interested in the latter half of it. When the game ended and mokus were counted, one could said that although the lost had not been awful, it still had been _bad_, especially for someone who had been rumored to be quite talented. However, when one looked beyond, and focus on the second part of the game, many were quite amazed at the skills Hikaru had displayed. They knew that there was no way a new-comer could win against a pro, especially when her opponent was a titleholder, yet after the initial stumbled, the girl had fought back, and it was _quite_ a fight; she had defended, she had attacked, she had tricked and most important of all, with just one brilliant move she had given them a glimpse of what her future in the Go world might be.

* * *

**A/N: Hi all, I was tempted into making this into 2 chapters, but since I haven't been able to get this chapter out sooner, I converted it into a super long one! Also, there are probably tons of grammar mistakes that I won't catch until I have published this, but I will try to fix them…eventually…**

Anyways, back to the story - I am trying to get everyone a glimpse inside Hikaru's head and heart; despite what she may seem on the outside, she is still a young scarred child. Her wounds never healed properly, no matter how much Sai tried to help her. There are things that only she can do.

It might seem irrational, but most of it is also psychological. One part of her knows that she has done the best she could in everything she did. Yet, there is another part, that little five year old girl that wonders if she is to blame for being abandoned by the people she loves the most. Even so, at the core, Hikaru is also a fighter and is trying to stand on her own step by step.

**So, what does everyone think? Although I don't respond to every review, **_**I do read**_** every single one of them. They help me focus and to go on with this story.**


	26. In the Dark

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 26: In the dark  
**

Sunlight streamed through the window and shone on the small head of a figure that had fallen sleep on her desk. Books and notebooks were piled up in one corner. And in front of her, a laptop was open.

She had been having trouble sleeping and had finally given up and got up before the sun made an appearance. She had logged on to the site just to check out any games that might have been going on in any part of the world. However, as soon as she had signed in, invites kept popping up. At first, she had refused all of them but had eventually given up and accepted a game. One game turned into two and then before a third one, she had fallen sleep.

A slight noise outside her window caused green eyes to blink open. Squinting to make out the time on her clock, 9:30am she yawned and stretched. She felt aching all over; it had not been an ideal place to fall sleep.

As she got up, something thumped to the floor at the same time. She bent down and picked up the stuffed doll that looked eerily like her brother. She brushed non-existent dust off it and set it on her bed. Figuring it was a good time to officially start her day, she washed her face, brushed her teeth and grabbed the first thing she saw out of her closet, a pair of dark blue jeans and a peasant blouse.

* * *

"Morning, aunt Akiko".

"Morning honey. You are just in time," she said as she set some pancakes in front of her.

"They look delicious. I am going to grab some milk, do you want some too?"

"No, I have already eaten but will drink my tea here with you."

As Hikaru drenched her pancakes in butter and syrup, Akiko let her know that her husband and son had woken earlier and had left to visit the Go Salon.

"Do you have any plans for the day?", she asked as she tucked a lock of hair behind Hikaru's ear. The girl was too busy concentrating on her pancakes to notice the lock of hair that had been precariously close to her plate.

After swallowing a mouthful, "Nope, nothing much to do. I already got all my schoolwork done for tomorrow. I guess I could always read ahead and work on some Go problems."

"Then since it's a Sunday, how about you take a break and do something different? Since the boys are already gone for the day, I was thinking maybe us girls can have a day out. Want to head over to the salon for a day of pampering?"

* * *

"Akiko-san, no matter how many times you have talked about your children, never in a million years would I had guessed that you were the mother of a teenager, until I saw it with my very own eyes. You did mention that your son Akira was the same age right? And such a pretty child you have too. Does she take after her mother's or father's side? Did you mention that she was your sister's or was that your husband's sister's daughter?"

Normally, she would not had asked it, but since Toya Akiko was a familiar client, she continued on, "And those gorgeous green eyes of hers! Are they real or are they contacts?"

Akiko just laughed as Chiori kept up the barrage of questions and compliments while continuing trimming her hair. Everytime Akiko needed a trim, she requested for Chiori since not only did the woman do a good job, but she was also a friendly person who chatted with her about everything and anything under the sun.

"Chiori-san, slow down, take a deep breath. Hikaru takes after both side of the family and yes, those green eyes are real, no contacts."

"So lucky! And that pretty long hair. Do you think she would let me give it just a trim? And we can add more highlights and…"

Akiko let her gaze wander across the room to where Hikaru was busy entertaining a younger boy. The boy was the child of another of the salon's client; the mother had come for a haircut for herself and her child, but the boy had started bawling at the top of his lungs as soon as he left his mother's arms. No matter what anyone did, the four year old just kept on crying, that is, until Hikaru had approached them; the child had found a new friend and was temporary too busy playing with her to care about anyone else.

"She is such a sweet child, yet I worried about her."

"Why do you worry so much? I know that all mother's worry about their children no matter how old they are, yet your children seem very well adjusted and well-behaved. I have never heard you complain about either child getting in trouble at school or with the law. Both of them are very healthy, do very well in school and are already working as professional Go players. And since they are both very talented in their chosen profession, they are pretty much set for life. And your other nephew is no longer a child; and you said he also has a successful career?" With a pat on her shoulder, Chiori-san added, "Toya-san, you shouldn't worry so much or it will give you grey hair. And you have such lovely hair and..."

Choosing to thank Chiori-san for her help instead of going into detail about what worried her, Akiko and Hikaru left the salon half an hour later.

* * *

Akiko took a peek at Hikaru while she was examining the menu. They were currently at a restaurant, ordering a late lunch. Throughout the morning, Hikaru seemed happy and cheerful, at least on the outside. For some reason, Akiko just felt that things weren't as they seemed; she wondered whether Chiori-san was right and she was just worrying too much?

"Hikaru, how is school?"

"Good."

"Problems with any of your classes? Classmates? Teachers?"

"Nope, classes are okay. And everyone is nice to me."

"Then how about Go?"

"They are good too; I won all my games so far and am on a streak just like Akira."

"That's good. How about boys?"

"Boys? My guy friends are nice to me too. Don't worried aunt Akiko, no one is bullying me."

Akiko bit her lip and wondered if she should clarify the question. Hm…well, if that was Hikaru's response, than it surely wasn't the topic of boys that was bothering her. Having exhausted most of what could be bothering a teenager, Akiko asked the one topic that she had been sort of avoiding. There was just one last thing that could preoccupied Hikari so much; her brother.

"Have you talked to Sai?"

At the last question, Hikaru blinked and looked at her, "He said he is good too, very busy."

"Uhm…Hik…"

"Aunt Akiko, have you been to this place often? What do you think I should get with my fried rice? Chicken? Fish? Beef? But then the vegetarian fried rice sounds very good too. And I was thinking of going for the strawberry and kiwi shake or do you think I should for the mango and lychee shake? And…"

With the barrage of questions that assaulted her, it didn't take a genius to know that she had finally found the reason behind Hikaru's discontent. Well, she wondered if "discontent" was the right word. Hikaru didn't seem sad or angry; in fact, she almost seemed like her old cheerful self. But underneath it all, Akiko sensed a sort of uneasiness? Sadness? Worries?

* * *

As the day went on, Hikaru kept dodging questions about her brother. In truth, she hadn't spoken much with Sai. He had finally called her the day after she finished that disastrous game against Honinbo Kuwabara. They had discussed her game and from what she heard, her brother was truly proud of her. He had praised her for not giving up during the middle of her game and that if there had been more moves available, she would definitely have found a way to win. His undying belief in her had soothed some of her worries away, but she had still been worried about him.

Sai had not called her ever since that day, but he had already warned her that the upcoming weeks were going to be insanely busy for him. He had told her not to worry about him and that things would soon settled down; he was also on track to finish all projects before the end of the year when he would be finally able to move to Japan.

She had told him not to work so hard and that it would be okay for him to take things slowly, even if he wouldn't be able to move to Japan until next year. At that point, her brother silliness had shown up; he had whined and asked her if she was trying to get rid of him. She had assured him that it wasn't so and that she was just worried about his health. When she had suggested flying over the weekend to see him, he had soundly refused.

"No. I don't want you to fly by yourself. And even if you are here, I won't be able to take time out to just hang out with you."

"I could ask Akira to come with me, and even if he can't, I can ask some of my other friends. And you don't have to worry about needing to take time out of work to hang out with me. I could entertain myself and whoever I bring with me just fine. I could show them a bit of the city. And…"

"Hikaru, no."

"But…"

"Promise me you won't come and that you would stay in Japan."

"But…"

"Hikaru!"

At the end, she had given up and promised that she would be in Japan and won't be flying anywhere no matter what. Hikaru just hoped she wouldn't regret her decision later. She rubbed over her heart and wished that her feelings of inquietude will go away.

* * *

**A/N:** Hi all, sorry for the long delay. There had been some problems that made it impossible for me to work on this chapter.

On the plus side, I do have next chapter halfway done and will post it soon.

Also, what does everyone think is going on with Sai? Want to make a guess?


	27. Facing the dark, Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 27: Facing the dark, Part 1**

"Sai, are you sure about this? I mean really really really sure?"

"For the umpteenth time, I am sure. And John, you are starting to sound like a nag."

"What? I am not a nag, I just think you are nuts."

"Why in the world would you think that?"

"Hm…I don't know, could it because you are planning to meet alone with someone who could have been part of the group that kidnapped your sister and killed your father? Oh, wait, could it be because you are taking with you a million dollar in cash to meet some stranger for information that could be fake for all we know? Oh, wait, maybe I think you also nuts because you won't let anyone know, not even me, where you are MEETING!"

"Sheesh, I take back what I said about you being a nag. I think you are actually a shrew."

"Sai, I am going to smack you if you don't get serious."

Taking pity on his friend's worried face, Sai patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry so much. I am not stupid, I will definitely tell the police. And look, I am taking our latest development, this tiny camera that has audio and visual. You can not only hear and see but also track my location."

"But…"

"Look, this person agreed to meet with only me. They said they had concrete evidence about who was the mastermind."

"But you already know who it was!"

"Yes, but there is no prove. If I can prove it, than I can also send them to prison for murder."

"Look, I know you cannot let it go. And to be honest, neither would I be able to if I was in your shoes, but there are other methods to get justice."

At Sai's raised eyebrow, John went on, "You are rich enough to hurt them where it will hurt them the most; to ruin them financially and socially."

"I know, but my father, Hikaru and I, also deserve _to see, to know_ that the culprit or culprits rots in jail for all their deeds."

"Sai…"

"Look if it makes you feel better, I am also wearing a bulletproof vest. And most important of all, I won't let anything happen to me; I won't abandon Hikaru, not again."

At the end, John gave up and let Sai talk him into his crazy plan. He had agreed to let Sai go, and to be honest with himself, he had no choice but to let him go; once Sai set his mind to do something, there was nothing that could stop him from doing it.

* * *

"Mother and father, please keep watching over us. I know it is reckless, but my instincts tells me I have to go. Once today is over, and I manage to put the culprits behind bars, Hikaru would be safe for sure; we would be able to go anywhere and not have to worry about someone trying to kidnap or kill either one of us for the inheritance you left us."

"Father, I would also bring the killers to justice. So don't worried about us, we would be okay. I promise not to you guys again. Not ever again."

* * *

**In another part of the city…**

"I am not going to be continuously blackmailed."

"I told you, I am not going to be giving you any more money, especially for lies."

"Look, I was never near where my brother-in-law was killed and am not going to continuing paying you to keep your mouth shut about whatever secrets you think you have on me."

The last part was said in a near shout before a louder noise followed, that of the phone shattering after making impact against the wall.

At that moment, Jason Smithson had only one thought in his head; he should never have paid the blackmailer.

Valerie Smithson slowly backed away from her husband's study door. She had heard more than enough and it was time for her to take action.

* * *

**Back in Japan, and to be more precise in the corridors of the Go Institution…**

"_What do you think? They are both doing very well, straight winning streaks so far."_

"_Who do you think would come out on top?"_

"_I heard from some of the people who have played both of them, that they are terrifying in their own ways. Their Go is different, but at the same time just as deadly."_

"_Nonsense. How can two children be deadly?"_

"_You can see Shuusaku's influence in some of her Go while his is more like his father's."_

"_Her Go can also be very tricky, many of her opponents just simply walked blindly into her traps while his Go is more straightforward."_

"_They are definitely heading the new wave; Japan will recapture its former Go glory in the world stage."_

"…_talking about the world stage, have you heard?"_

"_You mean about that new tournament they are planning?" _

"_Yes, I have heard that the Go Association has been trying for years to arrange a tournament between China, Korea and Japan for the younger pros…."_

Ogata just shook his head as he stepped out from behind a column. He had been sneaking a smoke and could not help but overhear how many players sounded like gossiping housewives. To be honest, he also understood the buzz that was going around, what with Akira's and Hikaru's records. Ogata himself was filling excited and now more than ever, he needed to secure a title to welcome the new wave.

* * *

**In the Toya's residence…**

Akiko was humming quietly in the kitchen. Everyone was home tonight and they would have dinner together. It probably was not that long ago, but she felt as if it has been a while since Koyo, Akira, Hikaru and her have set down to eat dinner together at the same time; it was all because of work or school that kept everyone out of the house at different times.

She just wished that Sai was here too; sighing, she shook those sad thoughts aside. She glanced at the clock and headed out to tell everyone that dinner was going to be in 10 minutes.

Both father and son were in the middle of discussing a game when they heard a blood curling scream. Both rushed out to see Akiko kneeling at the base of the 1st floor stairs while Hikaru lay unconscious at an odd angle on the floor.

* * *

At the same time, Sai felt a painful twist near his heart; it was so quick yet so painful that he had to hunch over and ended up leaning on a wall while he massaged the area near his heart. At the same time, he heard someone shout, "Duck, you moron!"

Although he did not had enough time to listen, but thanks to the fact that he had leaned against a wall, a shot whizzed by his head harmlessly. Had he been standing to his full height, the bullet would have embedded itself into the back of his skull.

At the sounds of two bodies hitting the ground, Sai turned around and could not help but blink at the bizarre sight that greeted him.

* * *

John had been on edge all day and wavered between being there and not. On one hand, he wanted to be there no matter what, but on the other hand he felt as if he was going to go crazy cooped up in such a small space, waiting for something that might or might not happen. When the last players had entered the warehouse, he had wanted to rush in but was forbidden to do so.

After an interminable amount of time had passed, the informant and Sai finally made their transaction. And when he heard the sound of a gun go off, he could not help by feel his own heart freeze. He had frozen in the spot thinking of the worst and then in a blink of a second, his heart had galloped a mile a minute and he had rushed in with everyone.

With adrenaline rushing throughout his body, it took a moment for him to take in what was going on. He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Sai safe and in one piece. He then noticed officers cuffing one man, while others were trying to separate the couple who were rolling around on the floor.

* * *

**A/N:** Hi all, I got this chapter done sooner than I expected. Was thinking of waiting before uploading this chapter, but then, I thought, why not?

I tried to pace this, but still things seem to be going fast but what does everyone think?

It seems just like yesterday that I started this story…but in reality it has been 27 chapters…kind of weird yet exciting. Anyways, thanks for reading and do also keep reviewing.


	28. Facing the Dark, Part II

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 28 – Facing the Dark, Part II**

**In the police station, a lawyer set next to a middle-aged grey haired man, while across the table set a detective and an officer…**

"Look, I have never been a killer."

"But a kidnapper and a thief?"

"I object to name calling. Can we please get back to what you are accusing my client of?"

"Jason Smithson, could you tell me again what happened tonight?"

"I have already told you, I saw my wife sneak out and I followed her."

"Why?"

"I thought she was meeting with a lover."

"Really?"

"Yes, I brought a gun with me thinking I would just threaten him to stay away from her. Honestly, I was not going to actually use it. I followed my wife and she must have heard me coming behind her or something. She turned around and then we just struggled and the gun in went off accidently. I would never kill anyone."

* * *

**In another room at the police station…**

A lawyer set next to his client, a middle aged woman who sat stiffly in a chair. Her chin was raised haughtily.

"My client has already informed you that she was following her husband."

"Why?"

"She believed her husband was meeting with a lover."

"A lover? And she brought a gun to kill them?"

Before the lawyer could continued, the woman stood up and declared in a tone that let everyone know how irritated she was with the situation. "This is ridiculous! You might not have anything to do, but I do have very important things that require my time and attention. I want to leave now!"

The detective did nothing but lean back on his chair while keeping his eyes firmly on her. Her lawyer whispered more to her and eventually got her to seat back down.

"As Mrs. Smithson already mentioned she has no idea how the gun got there. She was just there at the wrong place and time."

* * *

"Well, that's a new one. Both are arguing that they were following the other to catch their cheating spouse. Although I am surprised that the husband is saying he brought the gun in", John just shook his head at the stupid excuses. Did either realize that countless hidden police officers had witnessed one of them go in first not long after Sai and that stranger had gone in?

Sai just shrugged his shoulder. "Come on, I am more interested in what the other player in this farce has to say."

* * *

The other player that Sai was referring to was a man who looked much older than his thirty years; he had the look of someone who had been doing drugs throughout his life and was going through a withdrawal now. His eyes were red, he was sweating but was shivering as if he was freezing.

"I don't know anything. I didn't do anything."

"Mr. Daniel, could you please tell us what happened?"

The man looked at his lawyer, before he turned back to face the men that were questioning him. "Like I said, I don't know anything. I didn't do anything."

"Okay, then can you tell us what you were doing tonight?"

With another nod from his lawyer, "I was just minding my own business when these blokes came in."

"Who came in?"

"A tall but girly man, a woman and another man."

Behind the glass, John couldn't help but snort at the comment of _girly man_.

A **_"John"_**, muttered in a warning tone prevented him from making a comment. He instead cleared his throat and faced forward again.

* * *

**An hour later…**

With evidence provided by Sai (audio and video recordings), the man named Daniel finally confessed. He had contacted Sai to ask him for money in exchange for information on what had happened that day in that abandoned warehouse about 10 years ago. There was no way for the man to get away from the charges of stalking and extorting money out of Sai, and as a plea bargain, he finally told them what had happened that faithful day.

"We meant no harm, honestly. We were approached about making some quick bucks. We just had to kidnap this little girl and then her father would come pick her up once the boss said it was okay."

The boss had been Jason Smithson, who had paid them quite handsomely for the work. However, a commotion had happened that day, and while everyone was running away from the police, Daniel had seen a woman shoot the little girl's father. At the time he did not know who the woman was, but swore now that the woman was the same one who had tried to shoot at them just a couple of hours ago.

* * *

**It was the next day before a Smithson's admitted to anything…**

With evidence mounting against them, Jason had finally admitted to coming up with the idea of kidnapping his niece for ransom. He had only wanted money and nothing more. It was not until a couple of days ago that he started suspecting his wife was the one who killed her own brother-in-law.

She had finally broken down and told him that she had done it. But it was only to protect him since she their brother-in-law knew Jason was behind the kidnapping and was going to put him in jail; she had no choice but to kill him.

Throughout the years, Jason had continuously paid the remaining member of the group he hired for the kidnapping to keep that man's mouth shut about Jason's part in the whole deed. Yesterday night, after drowning his sorrow and guilt in alcohol, Jason had woken up to see his wife slip a gun into her purse. He had followed her and when he noticed what she was going to do, he had tackled her for the gun. He did not want another death on his conscience.

The guilt had been eating away at Jason ever since and as he confessed it seemed as if a very heavy weight was unloaded off his shoulders. However, not the same could be said about Valerie Smithson.

* * *

"My client refuses to say anything anymore. We also want to post bail", imparted one of the two lawyers who were now representing Valerie Smithson.

"That would be impossible. There is a witness who saw Mrs. Smithson shot the senior Fujiwara. And most important of all, the bullet and it's shellcase that killed the elder Fujiwara matches those of Mrs. Smithson's grandfather's gun. And this gun was left to Valerie Smithson upon her grandfather's death. Also, more than one person witnessed Mrs. Smithson shoot at the younger Fujiwara."

"Like we said, our client does admit to owning the gun, but she has had no idea where it had been. She has not used it to kill anyone either in the present or in the past," said Lawyer # 1.

"There is the little problem of the recordings the police has in our custody of what transpired yesterday. It clearly shows your client, Valerie Smithson, aiming the gun at her nephew. It was her, and_ not_ her husband who held the gun and used it. It was her husband and _not_ her, who wrestled the gun from her in an effort to prevent her from shooting a second time when the first bullet missed its intended target."

"We wish to see those recordings and would want proof that nothing was tapered with…" added affronted Lawyer # 2.

"You can have as many copies as you wish. And no matter how many teams of experts you hired, you will find that no evidence was tampered with."

"We will see about that. Then in regards to the charges of attempted kidnapping of a child, those are plain outrageous. Our client has no need to resort to kidnapping seeing as how the minor is the daughter of my client's deceased sister."

The other lawyer added for good measure, "And don't forget that she was her guardian for a number of years."

"And as I said before, we have arrested the men who had unsuccessfully tried to kidnap this minor and have pointed out your client as the one who had paid them."

"You cannot trust the words of criminals."

"And as to the charge of a murder and kidnapping that occurred years ago…"

After hours of questing and more back and forth arguing, the detective had more than enough, in a firm voice he talked over the fancy lawyers, "We are officially charging Valerie Smithson with murder, attempted murder, attempted child kidnapping and endangering and…"

* * *

Hours later, after unsuccessfully attempting to post bail, Valerie Smithson finally asked to speak with her nephew.

"Honey, you must get me out of here. This is just a misunderstanding."

Instead of responding, Sai only raised his left eyebrow in inquiry.

"It was all Jason's doing. I swear I don't know what is going on. All I did was follow that cheating scumbag and then when I saw him point that gun at you, I went crazy and fought him. You must trust me; I would not let anyone hurt you. You and your sister are the last thing I have left of my own beloved sister. Your mother…"

At the continuing mention of his mother, Sai finally slammed his hand on the table that separated them and without another word, he rose to his feet and headed for the door.

Upon seeing her chance of escaping jail leave, in desperation Valerie, crying, launched herself at Sai. Her good-for-nothing lawyers had pretty much made it clear that though they may be able to argue about some of the charges, there was nothing they could do about the attempted murder of her nephew, the videos showed clearly her guilt.

Neatly stepping aside before the woman could grab him, Sai let the officers who rushed in and restrained her.

"No, you must listen to me. It was not me! I was not trying to kill you but was there to protect you! I just was not familiar with how to use a gun and it accidently went off. You must listen to me!"

When Valerie finally set down, with two officers standing behind her, Sai came back to the table. He didn't sit down, but looked her straight in the eye.

"There is no point pretending. I know what you are and what you have done. I would enjoy watching your trial and see how the judge and jury condemn you to prison for life."

At the unyielding look of those dark lavender eyes, the woman just went crazy and started screeching at Sai.

Gone was her act of the _indignant and innocent woman_ and in its place the true Valerie Smithson emerged, "You ungrateful good for nothing whelp. Is this how you repaid me for all I have done for you and your sister? You guys should have just died. But no, you had to live and stand between what's mine. You are just like your mother. Always trying to steal what's mine! Did you know that I met your father first? If it wasn't for her, your father would have married me! Me! I would have been your mother."

"I tried to show him. But he wouldn't listen to me. Ruined all my plans! After your mother died, I told him I would divorce Jason and help him raise his children, but no, he turned his noise up at me. He deserved what he got!"

* * *

**A/N: Hi all, here is chapter 28! **

In response to the reviews, thanks! And do keep sharing all your thoughts about this story; they are very helpful and encouraging.

Even after posting the previous chapter, I was questioning whether I was going too fast. However, after much thinking and as I was working on this chapter, it just felt right; it was time for this to happen (after all it is chapter 28!). And don't forget that Sai has suspected who the guilty party was for years so it should come as no surprise that after years and years of investigating and collecting information, it would end this way. I was tempted to go over each of Sai's steps to prove who the culprits were, but realized that it would have been too much.

Also, could you guys imagine Sai able to move to Japan while leaving a threat running around free? He only moved Hikaru secretly to Japan so that in Valerie's Smithson's eyes he would be the most visible threat to her; that way, he could be sure of Hikaru's safety while he more openly challenged and brought to justice the woman who had caused them so much harm.

Jason Smithson is a greedy man who does things without thinking much about the consequences (kidnapping, stealing money from work, etc). He is greedy but never wished to kill anyone. And in his own way, he does love his wife (which is why at the very beginning he said he brought the gun with him). However, the same could not be said about Valerie

Smithson.

She is not only a greedy woman but also a manipulative one; she had grown up spoiled and always wishing for what others had, be it wealth or beauty. In her way of thinking, the world revolves around her and anyone who dares to go against her should be _removed_ out of the way.

And no, in answer to Ann Tashikawa; her well deserved reward would come soon...I have so many things in mind planned for this story…

_*cackles evilly* __**cough, cough, cough,**__ I mean *smiles angelically at everyone* _


	29. The end of darkness?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 29: The end of darkness?**

_It was surreal_, thought Sai as he looked up at the night sky. What felt like an eternity had actually come to an end? It was finally over? He had dedicated so much time and effort for this ending, and when it finally happened, it didn't feel real to him.

One part of him was relieved that that things had finally ended. The people responsible for his father's death were finally locked up in prison and most important of all, Hikaru was finally safe. Ever since he got back from the police station, all he had done was just sit outside on his balcony and stare at nothing in particular. He wondered if he should call his baby sister now or tell her soon in person. His cell phone was out of battery, so he would have to get up and use the home phone if he wanted to call her now.

Another beeping noise turned his attention back to the apartment.

He finally noticed the flashing red light of the machine and saw the number of missed calls and voicemail flashing. He winced when he saw the numbers. Sighing aloud, he figured he should probably listen to them all; they were probably from John and Steven checking to see if he was okay. But really, did they need to call and leave so many messages? Sometimes, those two acted like mother hens.

And speaking of John, he heard the intercom ring too. He left his door open for him and on the way back played his voicemail as he headed into his room to change.

"_Message 1: Sai, this is Akiko. Where are you? I have called your cell and left a message. Hope you get this, it is Hikaru. I don't know what's going on. We are in Tokyo Hospital now and the doctors are checking to see if she is okay. She fainted…"_

* * *

Upon receiving no answer to his knock, John just pushed the door open. If his friend didn't really want his company, he would never have allowed the elevator to bring him up (security was top notch at Sai's building).

"Sai?"

He hurried into the room when he saw Sai standing motionless next to his answering machine. He was getting ready to tease his friend's disheveled look (he had a pair of dark jeans and a white dress shirt halfway buttoned unevenly) when he caught sight of his friend's face. He looked pale and in shock.

"Message 2: Sai, this is Koyo. We have been trying to get in touch with you. We are…"

John didn't manage to hear anything more as he was pushed out the way he came.

"I need to go to Japan. Now!"

"Sai, it is midnight now. Look, we can go in a couple of days and give your sister the good news. I will even go with you, I haven't seen her in ages…Stop pushing me! Where are you going without shoes?"

Sai however ignored him and just kept pressing the elevator button for the basement aka the parking lot.

"Sai…"

"She is in the hospital."

John didn't need to ask who _"she"_ was, there was only one person in this world that could cause Sai to act this way. Without saying anything else, they both got into his car. He let his friend drive as he himself made some calls to make sure that a plane was ready for them.

* * *

"Come on, come on. Turn green already," Sai was urging the traffic lights to change from red to green; he was tempted to just run through the light but knew better; the last thing he wanted was to cause an accident and be stuck here in the USA while Hikaru could be dying and calling for him in Japan.

Barely five seconds had passed since the light turned green when a car rammed into the driver's side of a black jeep.

* * *

**Meanwhile in Japan…**

"Sai, this is Akiko again. Sorry for leaving frantic messages on your voicemail. Hikaru is doing better and has been asking us to let her go home; she insists she fainted due to lack of sleep and stress. However, the doctor ran more tests, including a _stress test_. They are not sure, but they wanted to double check that her heart was okay. For now, they are keeping her in the hospital and if everything is okay, she might be able to go home in a couple of days. I will call you as soon as the results of her _stress test _come out. I will stay with Hikaru tonight so my cell phone needs to be off, but Koyo and Akira will be at home in case you call."

Akiko worriedly turned off her cell and headed back inside the hospital. It was so weird; Sai was pretty responsible but she and Koyo had been unable to get in touch with him. He had told her he would be busy this last two days and might even be out of touch, but this was still odd. And then there was Hikaru. The doctor did initially agreed that her fainting spell might have been caused by lack of sleep and stress, but as soon as he saw her EKG results, he had looked worried and ordered more tests. The doctor had told them that it could be nothing, 9 out of 10 cases, it was just a false alarm, but it was still better to double check.

* * *

**In room #555…**

"What is that?" Akira inquired in a dangerous tone.

"Nothing at all", Hikaru, Waya and Fuku added innocently.

Not bothering to say anything, Akira just held his hand out.

Sighing loudly, Hikaru took the mini-folded goban out from behind her.

"What part of no stress did you guys not get?"

"It is just a plastic goban", added Waya.

"Not stressful at all," added Hikaru as well.

When Akira still looked unconvincingly, Hikaru continued, "Come on Akira. I am so bore! I have been stuck in here since forever."

"It is just a couple of more days."

"But I feel fine. Look, I can even do some jumps now to prove how well I am."

"Sheesh, just stay in bed would you. You are a patient, so start acting like one!" added Akira in an exasperating tone as he practically pushed her back into bed.

When large greens eyes continued to stare at him pleadingly, he finally gave in. He handed the board back to Hikaru and missed the money being passed from Fuku to Waya. They had bet on how long it would take Akira to give in; if he had held out for a couple of more seconds (longer than 5 minutes) Fuku would have won.

"One game and only one…"

Before Akira finished his sentence, someone opened the door so forcefully, that it banged against the wall. Everyone turned around and stared at the newcomer.

* * *

Ogata Seiji straightened up and walked into the room. He pretended not to notice the wide-eyed looks and simply raised his left eyebrow.

Akira cleared his throat and asked, "Ogata-san, what are you doing here?"

"Your father wanted me to check-up on you guys."

"Father? He was just here a couple of hours ago."

"Well, yes, I was with him earlier and when he knew I was coming to the hospital to check on a friend of mine, he wanted me to stop by and see how Hikaru was doing, too."

"Is your friend doing okay?", asked Hikaru as she stared at her new visitor.

"Huh? Yes, it is nothing. He was discharged just now. So how are you doing?"

"Ready to get out of here too."

* * *

The next day dawned cloudy and grey. By the time the afternoon rolled around, the sky was already so dark that it seemed more like night. With the addition of rain and thunder, it made it the perfect day to tell scary stories; at least that was what Hikaru claimed as she got into character.

She was finally allowed out of bed, but not out of the room. This time, she made Akira, Yuki-chan and Mako-kun (two younger children who were next door neighbor) lied down on her bed while Hikaru, with a blanket covering her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, paced up and down telling her scary tale.

"_She called out to everyone but noone answered. Gulping for courage, Alice went out of her room to search for everyone. The house was completely silent, and only the creaking of the stairs could be heard. To distract herself, she recited all the names of the countries she knew aloud, but when she got to the bottom of the stairs, nothing escaped her lips. She was sure she heard some noise in the kitchen. However, even in the lower floor of the house, the rooms were all also all dark, as dark as night. Grabbing the last of her courage, Alice turned around and…"_

Just as lightning suddenly flashed, there was a loud bang. The younger children screamed and fell off the bed. Since Hikaru's back was to the door, she didn't see what the others saw during that quick flash of light; a gigantic ghost with flowing long hair standing by the door. So when Hikaru turned around to see what was going on, someone grabbed her. Before she herself could scream in fright as well, the air was crushed out of her lungs as she was hugged to death.

"You are okay now, Hime-chan, I got you. I am here now. I won't let anything happen to you."

* * *

**A/N: Hi all. **

If anyone was wondering, Ogata is lying about coming to the hospital to see a friend. He was really there to check on Hikaru. In fact, he rushed out of the Go Institution as soon as he heard about Hikaru.

Also, I am not sure when next chapter would be up. I am feeling a bit blue. Was trying to save as much money as possible for school, but was laid-off.

Anyways, thanks for keeping up with this story. And special thanks for the reviews too. And what do you guys think about this chapter? I didn't really leave it as a cliffhanger since I gave enough hints of who was the last visitor. Any theory of who the latest guest is and why you think it is _"this"_ person?


	30. Is it really the end…right?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 30: Is it really the end…right?**

"You are okay now, Hime-chan, I got you. I am here now. I won't let anything happen to you."

No words came to Hikaru; all she could do was hug her brother back just as hard as he was hugging her. She buried her face in his shoulder and held him as tight as she could, she never wanted to let go.

"The ghost got onee-chan!"

"We need to help her!"

"What are you guys talking about?", asked John as he flicked the room's light back on. The sight that greeted him had him holding back a laugh; two younger kids were on the floor wrapped in a blanket that looked more like a rope. They seemed to be trying to free themselves, but the more they tugged, the tighter the blanket became. There was another older kid who had been rushing to Hikaru's side but stopped upon seeing who was holding her.

* * *

Akira had been amusingly watching Hikaru get into her role. She had been working quite hard at being scary; taking advantage of the thunder and lightning, she had even turned the room's light off for added effect. At first, he had been reluctant to let her out of bed, but also understood that she was tired of being bound to a bed. He had jumped like everyone else at the sound of the door being banged open, though he did not fall off the bed. He had only been worried when he though a stranger got a hold of Hikaru.

When the lights were turned back, he blinked to re-adjust his eyes and blinked again at the sight that greeted him.

"Sai-nii? Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?", asked Akira.

"Huh? Akira-kun? I am fine, give me a minute," Sai reluctantly set Hikaru down. However, she was not letting go and still had her arms tight around his neck.

"Baby sister, let go for a minute. I want to make sure you are okay."

When she still didn't let go and even bury her head deeper into his neck, Sai added, "Pretty please. I promise I won't go anywhere. I very worry about you, just let me see with my own eyes that you are okay."

In response, Hikaru just shook her head fiercely.

Seeing that the siblings needed some time together, John ushered the rest of the occupants out of the room. The younger kids protested, since they didn't want to leave their new friend, while Akira was more reluctant to go since he had many questions he wanted to ask.

* * *

When everyone finally left, Sai shifted his weight and carried Hikaru to the hospital bed. He set down on it and rubbed her back. He didn't know what else to do. Eventually, Hikaru relaxed and let go so she could see his face for the first time in ages.

"That's a good girl, let brother see if you are…" Before Sai could check her over for any injuries, Hikaru gasped out loud in shock when she finally caught a look at his face. There were scratches and bruises on his face. And some sort of makeshift bandage wrapped around her brother's head and left hand.

"Hikaru, stay still for a second, I just need to check…"

"Sai-nii. You are the one that should stay still! Are you okay? What happened? Hold on, let me call a doctor over to check you."

Sai grabbed hold on her arm, thus effectively stopping her before she could even dash out of bed.

"I am fine. Just a little accident, I am more worry about you. Are you sure you didn't hurt yourself when you fell down the stairs?"

"I am fine, and it was just a couple of steps. Instead, nii-san, does it hurt anywhere?", she asked as she carefully touched the side of his head.

When she still looked doubtful, he spread his arms out and allowed her to poke and probe to make sure he was okay. When she still looked not sure and insisted on a doctor, he laughed and reassured her, "I already had medical assistance on my way here and probably look worse than I feel."

Jokingly he added, "But don't I look more dashing now? You know this wounds are like proves of how valiantly I had fought."

All Hikaru could do was shake her head at her brother silliness. She had missed him so much, silliness and all.

* * *

When John came back half an hour later, it was to find both siblings sleeping. He tried to make as less noise as possible as he placed another blanket on top of both of them. Hikaru did not stir but Sai did open his eyes. He motioned John for silence, while he slowly got up without waking his sister.

Once they were outside, John winced a bit. Sai did look really bad. "Hey, sorry to wake you, but now that you are awake, maybe you should get checked by a doctor again."

"I wasn't really sleeping. Besides, I need to talk to Hikaru's doctor."

"Didn't your aunt say that everything was okay?"

"She did, but I still want to talk to him for my own peace of mind."

As they were heading over to the doctor's office, John took another look at his friend. They were both lucky in the sense that the accident could have been much worse. One second he had been on the cell arranging for a plane and its crew to be ready and the next second, his body was slammed to the side. He thought he had blanked out for a minute or so since the next thing he heard were emergency workers asking if he was fine. He had then become more aware of his surroundings and heard Sai yelling next to him; they were on the back of an unmoving ambulance.

Sai had looked quite a sight; he was covered up with cuts and the most worrisome one was the one on his left temple that still had blood dripping out despite the medics' efforts to stop it. His shirt and pants were torn at odd places (probably due to the glass from the cars' broken windows).

"Sai?"

"John! Good you are awake. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think. What happened?"

"An idiot ran into us. But lucky noone was seriously hurt. How are you feeling?"

"I guess not bad, could be worse. I have just some cuts, but your wounds look more serious. Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine. And can you tell these gentlemen to let me go, I need to make it to the airport."

"Young man, you are going nowhere until we take a look at you. You were both very lucky. Your friend is not seriously injured, but you on the other hand, besides the cuts, the sprained left wrist, there is also the concussion."

"I told you…"

After much more arguing back and forth, the medics did manage to give first aid to Sai but didn't succeed in taking him to the hospital as they had wanted. To make peace, John had called in favors and arranged for a medical team to meet them on the plane.

"…hn…John!", was accompanied by a hand waving furiously in front of his face, which brought John back to the present.

Shaking himself back to the present, John asked a "What?"

"I was saying that maybe you should go ahead and rest. You shouldn't even be here with me."

"Look, we have been friends for who knows how long, so there was no way I would have allowed you to make the trip by yourself, and especially at the state you were in and are in."

"I am fine. I am just glad you had change of clothes in the plane. It would have been bad if Hikaru had seen me in torn and bloody clothes."

Snickering he added, "Yeah, especially with your dramatic entrance. Poor kids…"

* * *

**While Sai and John were talking with Hikaru's doctor...**

"That child should have arrived by now. I am glad that he is okay."

"Yes", agreed Toya Koyo with his wife.

"I wonder if he would come back tonight or will he stay in the hospital with Hikaru."

Before Koyo could answer, Akiko continued, "Hm…I wonder what dishes I should make when they come home tomorrow."

"Whatever you cook is delicious."

"Thank you, dear. Still, I should…" and his wife kept mumbling to herself as she headed to the kitchen.

In truth, the last few days had been pretty nerve wrecking. They had been quite worried about Hikaru and when they were unable to get a hold of Sai, they had thought about the worst case scenarios. Sai still had been unable to give them the whole story, but now that everyone was coming home soon, there would be plenty of time for explanations.

* * *

After sending John to rest, Sai headed back to Hikaru's room. He had found Akira reading on the small sofa and had sent the kid home. He had asked Akira to tell his parents that he was sorry he couldn't stop by the house to greet them properly but will do so as soon as Hikaru was allowed to go home tomorrow.

With only reassurances that Sai himself was not hurt and no more additional explanations coming his way, Akira reluctantly agreed to go home.

Sai smoothed Hikaru's hair and went back to the sofa that had been placed by the door. He took his own advice to Hikaru and decided to take a small nap. He had not slept a wink since he heard the message about Hikaru being in the hospital. Then that accident had occurred and he had been too jittery with worry to be able to sleep through the interminable long flight to Japan.

Hikaru wasn't sure what awoke her. One second she was having a good dream and the next she had awakened. She shook the last remnant of sleep away and looked around the room. Had it all been a dream? Where was her brother?

When her eyes finally adjusted to the dark, she caught a figure on the sofa. She crept slowly to him, afraid that she would wake up any minute now. She kneeled by the sofa and slowly reached out to touch him and let out in relief the breath she didn't know she had been holding when her hand made solid contact. Although he didn't snore, she could still hear him breathing in and out.

"Hikaru?", a sleepy Sai asked.

"You are going to catch a cold. It is already very late, let's just go back to sleep", he added as he reached out for her. With his heartbeat beating loud and clear by her ear, Hikaru didn't protest and went back to sleep.

* * *

**The next morning…**

The nurse knocked and pushed the door open to Room #555. She had been expecting her patient to be in bed with her cute older brother by her side, but instead was met with an empty bed.

She whipped around to look frantically for them and almost dropped the tray of breakfast she had been carrying. The sight that greeted her had kicked her maternal instincts to high alert and made her want to hold both of her hands to her heart. The siblings were all cramped on the sofa but looked so peaceful sleeping; it was such a sweet sight.

She slowly backed out of the room and told her co-workers to not let anyone in to Room #555, the poor tykes deserved to get as much sleep as possible. If it wasn't due to the patient-hospital confidentially policy she would have snuck back into the room and taken a picture of the adorable sight.

* * *

**A/N:** **Hi all**

Wanted to give special thanks to _**Mystic777**_ and_** Loving Angel**_ for the good wishes and reviews! I hope to find a new job soon too. And thanks _**Perfidious **_and_** ruhiko**_ for the reviews too.

Also, in response to the reviews: It had never crossed my mind to link Ogata and Hikaru in a romantic sense. Though Ogata would deny it, he does consider Hikaru as the little sister he never had. At first, he was interested in her Go, but slowly learned to care for her.

Not sure when the next chapter would be out. Since this chapter was finished earlier than I expected, I figured I should share it with everyone. Anyways, how was this chapter?


	31. Fated to meet? Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 31: Fated to meet? Part 1**

With the younger children safely tucked in bed, Sai headed towards the kitchen. He had asked Toya Koyo and Akiko for some time so they could talk about everything that has happened. He stopped by the door, assumed a seiza position and then with both palms pressed firmly on the floor, he gave a deep bow that would have made ancient courtiers green with envy.

Upon seeing this, the other two occupants in the room hastily got to their feet and urged Sai to his own two feet as well.

"I don't know what else I can say or do to show how grateful I am to both of you. I…"

"Nonsense child, we are family", said Akiko grabbed as she steered him towards a seat. "I made some tea and cookies, come and take a bite and a sip."

"And you do look a bit pale. Shouldn't you be resting as well?"

"Akiko is right, we can have this conversation another day."

"I am okay, like I told Hikaru, the wounds look worse than they feel," added Sai absentmindedly as he touched the left side of his temple.

After taking a sip of tea, he started his tale from the very beginning.

* * *

"I came to you seeking sanctuary for Hikaru about three years ago. I knew Valerie Smithson was responsible for the latest botched kidnappings and suspected she had a hang in my father's death. As much as it pained me to separate from my sister, I knew I had to keep her in a safe place while I got rid of those who threatened her safety and happiness."

"Here", Sai passed one of the thick folders he had to the Toyas. "I moved heaven and earth to find someone I could trust with her. There were many people I thought of; old friends and distantly-related relatives of my father's or mother's. I found many but none I felt would truly care enough about Hikaru. Eventually, my investigators found out that my grandfather's great-grandmother was part of the Toya's family. And that's when your names turned up; on paper you both had a perfect marriage and only one son. After meeting both of you, I knew you were the ones; I saw it in your eyes, in your actions. Not only were you countries away from the USA, but if for any reason the Smithsons' were able to discredit me as unfit to raise a child, you were willing and able to step in and assume custody of Hikaru."

Taking a sip of tea for his parched throat, Sai continued with his fears and worries. His fight to wrestle control of Sakura Industries, how hard it was to collect proves of the Smithson's crimes throughout the years, and finally the events that had occurred during the last few days. He told them about the confessions from Valerie; her obsessions with his father and hatred of his mother, her greed and selfishness.

"From the bottom of my heart, I deeply thank both of you. I don't know what to do or say and there is nothing I can do in my lifetime to pay you back, but please, if there is anything I can do, let me know."

"Don't be silly, we are family. Of course we would help you."

"Akiko is right. Family helps each other; I just wished we both had known about Hikaru and you before you approached us."

"If we had both known, we would have been there for you so much sooner", Akiko replied as she patted Sai's hand.

"And I know you mean it sincerely, but still I wish there was something I could do…"

"Well, there is something. You still owe me at least one Go game were both of us will play to our full strength without holding back."

At the mention of Go, Sai's eyes lit up. Before, any of the men decided to start a game at this late hour, Akiko put her foot down and hurried both of them to their own bed not long after they were done talking.

"Koyo! Don't be such a bad influence. It is late now and both of you should head to bed. There will be plenty of times to play in the future."

* * *

It wasn't until two days later when they were finally able to sit down and play a match to their heart's content.

The Meijin had played with Sai before, but both of them had held back. Koyo deemed it unfair for him to play at full strength while his opponent had such a heavy burden. And Sai himself held back, since he knew his opponent was also holding back. However, this time it was different.

Sai was excited to play someone who was the closest to the Hand of God, while Koyo was excited to finally find someone that he suspected was his equal in Go.

* * *

Akira had kept his eyes firmly planted on the board. They were currently in the room were his father's Go group met but unlike usual, there were only 4 people in the room; the two players which were his father and Sai plus the audience which consisted of only Akira and Hikaru.

It seemed at first to be just another game but then as soon as Akira and Hikaru followed them into the room after breakfast, both realized they were going to be witnesses to something great. Just like in an official game, the time was set to 3 hours and afterwards, a minute per move.

Just being a spectator made him so nervous, he could not imagine how his father and Sai felt. When a minute passed and still there were no moves, he looked up into the thoughtful face of his father. He wondered what he was thinking. There had been some small skirmishes over the board, but nothing too big; both seemed pretty even at the moment. But then again it was still early in the game.

Was his father aiming for the upper right corner? Frowning, he thought of the ways he could go about doing it with minimal damage to himself. _If he did that_…no, Akira thought as soon as an idea popped into his head; that wouldn't work either, Sai would see through it.

For as long as Akira remembered, he had always admired his father Go. It was strong, steady and calm but at the same time it overwhelmed his opponents. He had not only seen his father win games but also lose some during his earlier years. But as Akira grew older, his father won more games than lost and eventually he earned many titles, including the Meijin one. However, among his father's past games, official and no-official ones he could not remember a game that _just_ flowed so well.

* * *

Hikaru was very tempted to bite her nails; the palpable tension was killing her! At times she even forgot to breath. No matter who won at the end, this was one of those once in a lifetime games and she was so glad to be able to witness it firsthand.

Back and forth…back and forth…back and forth…She knew in her heart that there were few people, including pros, in the world who could match her brother on a goban when he went all out. But seeing him in action playing against someone who could match him move by move was exhilarating; it grabbed hold of you and didn't let go. At first glance it seemed they were pretty even, but if she was not wrong, she was sure that her brother had a slight advantage.

One could say that her Go was modeled after Sai's and Shusaku's, but she doubted she could play such amazing moves as he was doing now. _Well_, maybe not now, but one day, surely, if she worked hard enough, her Go skills might equal that of her brother…_someday_…

When she heard the "clack" of a stone, she returned back to the present and almost gasped aloud. This latest black stone just connected and had made her brother's tiny advantage null.

* * *

Toya Koyo set his stone down and waited. This was it! He felt it in his blood. _Here he was_ and not in the Pro world where he had been searching unsuccessfully for someone to walk with him to find the _Hand of God_. He should have known better; a great Go player did not have to be a Go professional just like age did not matter as long as you had the passion and skills.

* * *

They were approaching Yose, and black was ahead by a slight margin.

"Come on," Hikaru thought, "there must be a path for white to survive."

A couple of minutes later, Akira was surprised by his father's next move. Instead of just protecting his territory more, his father attacked; it seemed he wanted a bit of more territory, regardless of the danger. Did his father realize that Sai's ability to calculate and read ahead was monstrous? Was that the reason why his father tried to secure more territories even though the game was close and if he played carefully, he would most likely win. Was it too risky?

_No_, Akira thought to himself, his father was doing the right thing; he doubted Sai would let his father win by just protecting.

* * *

Finally, this was it! This one move would make or break him. Sai had looked for all the paths he could take, though this one was a bit dangerous…but if he did not risk anything he would also not gain anything. And Sai was no coward.

* * *

Akira could do nothing but blink and then blink again. He opened his mouth to say something, _anything_, but nothing came out. He looked at his father and Sai, but they were quiet as well. Both had smiles on their faces and seemed very happy with not just the outcome of the game, but also with the game itself.

He opened his mouth to try speaking again but Hikaru beat him to it.

"Wow. You guys are amazing. I have never seen anything like it. How about you Akira?"

He cleared his throat. "Me neither. Thank you both for allowing us to see such a wonderful game."

"No, it is I who should thank your father for taking the time to play Go with me."

"Don't be so modest Sai. I should be the one to thank you. After all, it has been a long while since I have played such an exhilarating game."

"Should we review the game?"

"Yes, there are so moves you made that I want to ask you about."

"Me too. Hikaru, Akira, come closer; we would like to hear your thoughts too."

Since they were both seated about four feet away from the goban, they didn't need another invitation and hurriedly got to their feet. However, in Hikaru's case, she didn't notice how numb her legs were and as soon as she took two steps she promptly fell.

Everyone reached for her, but it was too late. Even though she tried to twist a bit to avoid the goban, in the end, she still slammed painfully into the corner of the board and thus shook some of the stones from their previous position.

"Hikaru!"

"Are you alright?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Nooo! What did I do? I am so sorry, I didn't mean to moves the stones…"

"Don't worried about it, are you hurt anywhere?", asked Sai as he helped her to a seating position. He checked her left arm and although nothing was broken he guessed that she would still have quite a nasty bruise.

"Sit still for a minute. I will get you some ice."

"No, Sai-nii I am okay, let's start the review."

"We can do it in a couple of minutes and Akira, can you see if your mom is willing to make us some of her tea?"

* * *

"I am so sorry uncle Koyo," Hikaru apologized once again when she found herself alone with me.

"It is okay, accidents happen."

"Still, I am sorry. Here, let me put it all back in order".

Before he could say anything, Hikaru started arranging every black and white stone back to their original position.

"Black did this and then white responded by…" Hikaru murmured as she worked, imagining the game that was fought over the goban before her silly self had destroyed the shapes.

Once Hikaru was done, Koyo himself was a bit taken aback. She had done it so fast that he had been worried she might have misplaced a stone, but as he looked on, he noticed that she remembered it perfectly. She had set all the stones aside and as he looked on, she re-created the game.

It was true that she was a professional Go player, but not may pros could have done what she just did; without hesitation, she placed the stones in the _exact_ position and in the _exact_ order he and Sai had done it during the last few hours.

He was about to ask Hikaru about her memory abilities when Sai and Akira hurried in; Sai with two ice packs while Akira carried a tray with a pot of tea, cups and even some snacks.

* * *

**A/N:** **Hello everyone!  
**

It was a bit difficult for me to continue writing for many reasons. I am still feeling quite stressed and worried, but reading the words of encouragement many of you wrote, it has helped to push me on. Thanks lots and lots!

In this chapter, I wanted to cover the reason why Sai went to the Toyas. As we all know, for Sai, Hikaru is more precious than anything in the world, so he would not just leave her with _anyone _(without investigating them thoroughly), especially seeing what happened while he let her stay with the Smithsons. In the Toyas, he found the ideal couple; not only were they great from the many reports he obtained on them, but after meeting them, he also knew they were good people. And as an added bonus the Toyas could claim to be blood-relatives, _extremely distant_, but still family who shared the same blood and were more than willing to be her guardians; in case they ever managed to get the court to declared Sai as an unfit guardian, the fact that the Toyas existed would have put quite a hitch in the Smithsons claim that Hikaru had no other relatives or any competent and selfless family except them.


	32. Fated to meet? Part 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 32: ****Fated to meet? Part 2**

* * *

It was sometimes hard to think that the Hikaru of now was the same one from a few days ago, thought Akira as he observed her score another goal in an impromptu soccer game with some of their classmates.

"_What do you guys think about playing here? If black had gone here before he connected, then white would have been forced to respond earlier and…"_

That spot that Hikaru had been referring to would have most likely turned the game around; if black had done what she had suggested, his father could have won instead of lost by half a moku.

It had been quite an experience to hear both his father and Sai discuss their game and the reason behind some of their moves. They had gone over all major moves and each person's goal at the time but noone had been able to see that critical point until Hikaru had asked about it. Both his father and Sai had seemed quite surprised and had then launched into "_**If"**_ scenarios.

"_Hikaru is right…that's quite an interesting point…"_

"_If white had gone here…then black…"_

"_If black here…then white will be forced to respond two hands from now or…"_

"…_if here…then this place would have been better…"_

There review of the game had gone on late into the night, only temporarily stopping when his mother announced that it was time for dinner.

* * *

"_Sensei, who was white? This was an incredible game!"_

"_I don't recognize white from among Japan's Go pros, was he from Korea or China?"_

"_Hm…white reminds me of Shusaku's Go…"_

"_Is the player still here in Japan?"_

" _Do you think he would be willing to play with us if we asked him?"_

"_How long have you known this player?"_

"_How long had he been playing Go?"_

"_Who was his teacher?"_

This and many more questions were asked when Toya Koyo showed his Go Studying Group_ that _game he had played with Sai a couple of days ago. Although he had lost, it was still one of the most memorable games he had ever played in his life; he had also learned many things from that game.

For a minute, he saw the shimmering future that Japanese Go will rise to, that one day it would rival the powerhouse of Korea and China. He had been worried about the next generation of Japanese players, but it seemed he did not have to anymore. True, there had been his son Akira, but then only so much could be achieved by just one person; Go was a game of two. Then as time passed, he had observed some talented players emerge but no matter how hard he looked, he still could not find someone who could lead the next generation of Go players alongside Akira.

Then there was Hikaru, an unexpected yet welcomed child. They had been blessed to have her and as he later learned, it had been a great surprise that she was also proficient enough in Go to become a pro. He did not doubt her talent, but had been wondering how much of her drive in the Go world was due to her own wishes and how much of it was due to her family. Koyo could tell she loved Go, but was not sure if she was in the Go world due to an abandoned child's wish to feel accepted; did she play to make the people around her happy or to make herself happy? And how strong would those feelings be when she eventually hit a wall?

However, it seemed he had been worrying too much. No matter what her initials feelings were, _**now**_ they were those of a passionate Go player; if not, she would never have found so quickly that one critical path that both Sai and he himself had not yet seen. And, Sai, a non-pro player had shown him how powerful a dedicated player can be; just imagining how much more stronger

the new generation of pro players (people who lived and breathed nothing but Go) could be set his heart raising.

* * *

While everyone spoke over each other in an effort to find out who the other player was, Ogata Seiji, on the other hand, was very quiet. As the Meijin started laying out each stone, it became more apparent that the other player was very familiar; if only he could place a name or face to him.

And then it hit him! He had played his sensei's opponent some years ago; it was that darkly dressed guy that Ogata had underestimated; that game, that embarrassing but crucial game.

Once he realized who the opponent had been, he had been seriously tempted to demand the name of the mysterious player. However, through years and years of experience, he knew better than to pester for the name now, especially when Toya Koyo was so tightlipped. Ogata would give it some more time, wait and then ask later again and again until he too would be able to play with that man once again.

* * *

The net was once again abuzz with the news of not just Sai's re-appearance but also that legendary game against Toya Meijin. Any critics who doubted that a still unidentified player had actually played and won against Toya Koyo were silenced when they actually saw the kifu of that game. Black was undoubtedly the Meijin and white could only be Sai. Anyone who had played or ever seen a game of Sai argue that there was noone who could play the way Sai did; that terrifying modern Shusaku who learned from his opponents and integrated a bit of them into his own Go while at the same time still maintaining that _Sai_ signature.

Despite all this past years and the power of the internet and its ability to connect strangers across the world, Sai was still an unknown player. There had been some who had pretended to be "Sai" on the net, but it became quite obvious they were imposters as soon as they played a game. Many argue he had to be a pro to be able to play such a serious game against the Meijin, but no matter how many kifus were scoured, or how many arguments and comparisons were made to games of retired and still playing professional, noone could find who this player was; the possibility that he might actually be an amateur shook many to their core.

* * *

**A couple of days later…**

To top the week off, more news set the Go world spinning; Toya Koyo announced his retirement. Many people, pro players, reporters and fans were shocked and tried to talk him out of it. He had thought about retiring before, but had not been able to take those last few steps for many reasons; there was the worried about the Japanese pro world and his own ultimate goal. However, it seemed that it was finally time to move on.

He had led a cloistered life since he had been born; he came from a wealthy family and before he had even been old enough to attend school he had already fallen for Go. He had no brothers or sisters, but many older cousins who seldom played with him, so he had spent most of his time with his mother and nanny who described him as a quiet and obedient child who had never asked for anything until he learned about Go.

His grandfather had moved-in with them during one summer and had taught his young grandson about his favorite game. Noticing that young Koyo had a lot of potential, he talked to both his parents about hiring tutors and allowing him to explore the path of Go. His parents had first been opposed to it, arguing that their son was too young but when Koyo himself insisted, they both gave-in. From then on, he spent his time either in school or studying Go with masters.

He truly loved Go from the bottom of his heart and could not even recall when exactly he heard about that _"Divine Move"_ a.k.a. _"The Hand of God"_; all he knew was that to obtain it, he had to continue playing and the better his opponents were, the closer he was to it. And it seemed obvious that the better players would be found in the professional Go world so he had gone from the sheltered world his parents provided for him to the sheltered like of a Go professional.

Over the years, he had climbed to the top in his chosen career, but had still been unable to reach that move. There had been times he thought he was close to, but never as close as when he played that one even game against Sai. That game had not only taught him that the new wave was here to stay and rearing to make their own mark in the pro world, but had also opened many doors for him and had caused his understanding of Go and his believes to shift.

It was as if he was a young child again that had discovered the game; the joy and sadness, frustration and sense of reward upon doing his best. Also, though he was old and his Go strength above strong, it wasn't too late for him to try new Go techniques and that he could find the _Hand of God_ outside the pro world too. After all, the world was a very large place filled with many wonders.

* * *

Several days later, on a non-discussion day, Ogata stopped by the Meijin's house. He had tried to get a hold of his sensei earlier, but what with his announcement of retiring, it had been impossible.

"Good afternoon, am I interrupting?", he asked as he finally spotted Toya Sr. wandering around the back garden.

"No, I was just walking around. Did you come here to convince me to not retire too?"

"Maybe" was his only response. And in turn he received a quizzical look and a wave to join him in his walk.

A couple of amicably silent minutes passed before Ogata gathered his thoughts and asked, "Why? No matter what scenarios I think of, I can't come up with a reason why you would give up Go."

From that outburst, he got a chuckle and an invitation for a game.

* * *

"So what are your thoughts?", asked Koyo after they reached the middle of the game.

"It's your Go but…."

"…and? What do you think of my Go now?"

"Sensei's Go is strong and precise, but just now…"

"I realized that my Go has not grown much during the last few years and if nothing changed my Go will become stagnant."

"Then sensei could take a sabbatical, no need to give up…"

"I am not giving up Go. I am just moving on to the next stage."

After that, Ogata had stopped asking more questions. He had been tempted to ask if Sai had played a role in his retirement decision, but some instinct told him not to. He wondered if either Akira or Hikaru would be willing to introduce _Sai_? He knew that not only did Hikaru know who the man was, but she was most likely very close to him. Ogata was many things, but he was not blind, especially when it came to Go; Hikaru's and Sai's Go were too similar to each other for the players to be complete strangers.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews and encouragements! It helps lots to know that there are readers who are following this story and find it interesting. And it is very encouraging to hear back from the readers, too. =)

I had to re-write certain parts of this chapter again and again. To tell you the truth, I am still not that happy with it, but could think of no better way to present this chapter. I wanted to include that fateful game (and its ramification) in this chapter for many reasons. One, I have always wanted both of them to finally play an even game, for both of their benefits. Sai finally got to play an even match against an equal and through this game Toya Sr. learned many things.

In a way, that game helped to set aside some of Toya's fears about the new generation of Go players; he knows there are great young players, including his son, but feared that it was still not enough, which also played a role in why he did not retired 'til now. It wasn't that he was being egoistical or narcissistic, thinking that if _he_ left then the Japanese Go world was doomed; it was more that whenever he thought about retiring, he felt as if he was abandoning the Go world that he loved so much.

Also, another reason that kept him in the pro world despite his age and not so great health was the fact that he is still aiming for the _Hand of God_ and thought that he could only reach it by staying in the pro world. However, now he knows better and is able to set aside his fears and worries and can let go to explore Go more freely than ever without any restrictions or schedules to follow.

Also, a little hint about one of the upcoming chapters, Tashikawa Ann has met her match! I have that chapter partially written already but am still debating whether I should have it as chapter 33 or 34…I will think about it...


	33. Sai vs Tashikawa Ann

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 33: Sai vs. Tashikawa Ann**

Today was just another day, no scratch that; today was going to be a great day, that is a marvelous day for Tashikawa Ann. She had finally found out everything (thanks to a lot of people she had to bribe and even blackmail) about one Fujiwara Hikaru. As soon as everyone opened the pages of _Go Entertainment_, everyone in the Go world will avoid her like the plague. They would all know about the miseries that girl brought to anyone who got close to her; starting with the poor mother, then the dead father, the incarceration of her uncle and aunt, and so much more. It was all just going to be such delicious gossip and it would teach the girl her place.

Normally, she would have not gotten up until mid-day, but just thinking about the good news, Ann had woken up extra early today just so she could enjoy her meal while gloating over it all. However, before she could congratulate herself on her own cleverness, her brother slammed into the room.

"Are you out of your mind?"

Daintily wiping the corners of her mouth with the napkin, she told him "I have no clue what you are talking about".

"No clue? Then let me ask you, did you wrote this or did you not?", her brother demanded as he threw the papers down on the table. Her brows snapped together once she realized it was a copy of the article she wrote for _Go Entertainment_ that should have gone into print today.

"_Who is Fujiwara Hikaru? A teenage girl who calls herself a Go professional who claims to be equal to the real upcoming and rising star Toya Akira. However, behind her illusions of grandeur, there is a dark past filled with deaths and curses. One can even say that the girl is nothing but a bad luck magnet whose birth brought nothing but misfortune to those close to her. Starting with the death of her mother whose health declined due to giving birth to her, to the father who died protecting a misbehaving child, to the lovable aunt and uncle who are now in prison due to false accusations...?_

"This is my final draft. It should have gone into print already; did those people at the printing or delivering department messed up again? Whoever is responsible for its delay will have to be fire…", she trailed off when she noticed the color rise in his cheeks.

"Fire? The only one who is getting fire is you!"

Ten minutes later, the ongoing argument attracted another visitor to the room. "What is this racket about?"

"Daddy, nii-san said I was not allowed to write anymore. How could he do this?" She hurried to his side and looked up at him with watery eyes.

"Son?"

"Among all the stupidest things she has done, this is the worst. Thank goodness someone had the brain to contact me about this. Can you imagine the horrors that would have followed if this had seen the light of day?"

Finally able to get a hold on what had agitated his son so much from him, Tashikawa Sr. started reading at the page he indicated. And the more he read, the more ashen his face turned. Clutching the papers with his left hand as if his life depended on it, with the right hand he searched blindly for the nearest seat before he collapsed.

"Father!" Both of his children rushed to his side.

"I…you…this…"

"Father, breath, come on, take a couple of breaths. Father look at me, this never made it to the public. I personally saw to the shredding and then burning of every single copy that had been made." When his eyes still looked panicked, he firmly repeated once more, _"every single copy"._

With his father breathing a little bit easier, he went to the sideboard located at the corner of the room and poured both of them a glass of hard liquor.

"Ann, you are leaving for the countryside. Pack just the essentials and don't come back to Tokyo until your brother or I contact you…".

Her mouth dropping in shock, she exclaimed, "Father, what are you talking about? Countryside? I have a life here; things to do, a magazine to take care of, and so much more. I can't just drop everything and go of all places to the countryside. And why would I want to go there? If I wanted to get away from Tokyo for a bit, I would go to Europe and do some shopping there…"

"Don't you understand what you could have done? You are putting down a little girl and accusing her of bringing misfortune to those near her."

"It is just an article about a nobody who thinks she is the next Meijin or something. For her own good, someone has to tell her that she is not that great…"

"She is a fifteen year old girl who had a tough life! Yet you are blaming all her misfortunes on a child. You will alienate everyone from the Go world against us and will have the Go Association and our readers clamoring for the end of this magazine."

"You are just exaggerating. Even if she has some talent, which I doubt, she is still just one player among many; I doubt anyone would care…"

Talking over her, her brother went on, "She has the longest winning streak since becoming a pro, surpassing even Kurata-san. She is the niece of the Meijin, _the_ Toya Koyo, one of the most revered Go players in the world. And might I remind you, that _Go Entertainment_, is a magazine about Go? We relied on Go players and their fans for this magazine to succeed!"

"Well, it is not like we depend on this magazine to feed us. I mean father and you also run a successful business…"

Seeing that his sister still not see the gravity of her actions, he explained in terms that she could better understand. "You skipped over certain parts from the investigating reports you got on her, didn't you? If not, then you must have realized that she is also heiress to _Sakura Industries_, which will be worth billions of dollars soon at the rate the company is growing. She is also sister to Fujiwara Saijou, who without even being 30 years old, is the head of _Sakura Industries_, which under his command has risen from an below average company to the very top of the business world. He is an honest and sharp businessman who is also known as ruthless to those that get on his bad side. Didn't you hear what happened to the latest company that tried to cheat him? They are in ruins!"

" And did I mention that father and I have been courting business with Fujiwara-san for a while? Can you imagine what might happen if he knows about this little piece you wrote? About you attacking his one and only sister? Do you realize that if the contract falls through, we would lose hundreds of millions of dollars! Not only would we suffer but also the hundreds of employees who depend on us."

"Sorry to interrupt", intruded a new voice.

Everyone whipped their heads around to see the housekeeper hovering behind two new men.

* * *

There were many ways to start a new day, and John noticed that today was going to be especially enjoyable by seeing how excited Sai looked next to him. He had picked up Sai at the Toya's house and they were currently trying to get into the Tashikawa's residence. The housekeeper wanted them to come back later since the mistress had been occupied. However, with Sai's usual charm, he got them into the house, just in time to catch the gist of the argument that could be heard going on between the Tashikawa's.

Fearing for an explosion of his own, John looked at Sai out of the corner of his eyes. To John's surprise, he did not look upset at all, but was gleefully rubbing his hands together before pushing the doors open and making their presence known.

* * *

Amidst the silence that emerged, Sai's gaze locked onto Tashikawa Ann. A myriad of emotions flashed on her face, from anger at being interrupted, to surprise when she finally recognized who was at the door and then at the end, she settled for a guileless smile. She was not sure how much the visitors heard, so the only course of action left was to pretend to be innocent. Surely, such a handsome man would not be so rude as to comment on anything bad he might have heard.

"You must be father's and brother's friend, Fujiwara-san. They were telling me many good things about you. Please do come in. We are having breakfast, would you like anything to drink or eat?"

Raising only an eyebrow at her inquiry, Sai slowly looked at the rest of the occupants; the woman was going to pretend to be angel, while both Tashikawa's men looked horrified and mortified at the same time.

"We are not going to be here for long. We just stopped by to drop-off some paperwork."

"If this is about business, I will get out of everyone's way".

However, before she could leave, in a cold voice Sai insisted she stay, "After all, the present is for you" and passed her the binder that the other man, John, had been holding.

Looking at it questioningly, she opened the binder and once realized what she was reading, her face lost all color.

"…this…how…where…I don't understand…" was all she could manage.

"What is it?", asked her brother. However, before he could get a glimpse of what was written in the binder, Ann slammed it close and held it tightly to her chest afraid anyone would snatch it away from her.

"Uh ah ah", admonished Sai while waving a finger at her. "No need to be so selfish. I have other copies, plus all the information is also here", he added tapping his temples.

"For example, proofs about you blackmailing and bribing people to lied and cheat for you so you could get anything you wanted; from simply being the first one to buy a new purse a week before say merchandise went on sale to the public, to cheating on exams and test so you could graduate, to stealing articles written by others and putting your name on it, to sleeping with married men and stealing your best friends boyfriends and…"

"Shut up! Shut up!", she screamed in panic.

"Now see here. You can't come into my house and..."

"I am simply returning the favor to your dear sister. After all, it was quite an eye-opener the article your sister had so kindly written about my own Hikaru."

"How did you…?" asked the father.

"Your son did his best to contain the article but I also have my sources and got a copy of it before he burned it all. And I must say I take offence to a lot of things written in there, for starters that snippet about my Hikaru being dumb."

"Fujiwara-san, you must not misunderstand. We have no ill-will towards your sister or you, so…"

"I do belief you are telling the truth. But your dear sister on the other hand...", gesturing towards the binder that was still clutched tightly in her arms, "So as proof of her errors, I thought it was only right for me to return the favor by letting the world know about what kind of person she herself is. I still haven't decided which magazine I should send it to, but I think I should probably start by putting it on tomorrow's most viewed newspaper."

"You can not! I will sue you for defamation."

Shaking his head in disappointment, Sai continue, "Good luck with that. As you can see, every piece of news I have collected on you is true; it is all backed up either by paper trails you left behind or by solid witnesses."

"I have it all triple checked, and as we speak, there are more detectives digging for additional _information_", added John.

More silence greeted that statement as both of the Tashikawas' men looked at Ann. Before she could think of a way out of all this, her father swiftly snatched the binder from arms that had suddenly gone limp. "Father, no! You can not…"

"Well, that's all we came for; do look forward to tomorrow. Hm…John, do you think I should also send this to television networks?", asked Sai in a inquisitive tone as he and John turned to leave.

Leaping out of the chair she had previously been sitting, "No, you can not! It would ruin me. Father! Brother! Do something!" The last was screeched to the other men who had been surprisingly quiet; they were both in shock after flipping through the binder and discovering many things they could not believe she had done.

"Ann, how could you? We have taught you better."

"We know we spoil you, but for you to be able to do these things…some of them are even illegal, not to mention morally wrong…"

* * *

An hour later, both John and Sai left the Tashikawas' residence in great spirits.

"That went well".

"Well? I think it went great. You put the fear of _Sai_ on that woman. However, I am quite surprised; didn't think you would be happy just with her banishment from anything related to Go and the media. Though I am not surprised about the rule of her not allowed to be more than 12 feet near Hikaru unless accompanied by someone you approve of."

"Well if she dares to do anything stupid, I will show her no mercy, regardless of how decent her brother or father are; I will crush her like a bug."

"Huh..was that the last thing you told her before we left? I don't think anyone else heard you, though she certainly did since she looked like she was going to faint."

"Just a little reminder to reinforce the lesson…" To be exact, Sai told her in no uncertain terms that if she dared to do anything else, he would make her think the underworld was heaven.

* * *

**A/N:** **Hi everyone!**

Thanks for adding this story to your favorites and to your alerts, and I love reading your reviews.

As promised, I have not forgotten about Ann Tashikawa. The woman has met someone who she cannot mess with without paying a great price for it. In the past, her father and brother allowed her to do anything she wanted and short of murdering someone, they would fix any and all problems she got into. In short, she always got what she wanted and it never crossed her mind that the world did not revolve around her. Though she realizes that some of the things she does are not perfectly right, still for her, she is never to blame for anything that goes wrong. It is always the other person's fault; _they_ started the fight, _they_ stole her lovers, _they _were mean and rude to her for no reason, _they_ tricked her, _they _were wrong; it is always _they, they, they_ and never her. She is the type that acts (in an instant or even with plenty of time to think) without actually thinking about the consequences of her actions.

Although Ann's brother managed to destroy the few copies that were made, one still made it to Sai's hands. He has nothing against the Tashikawas' men since they seem decent people except the daughter. And Sai being Sai, made it quite clear what would happen to anyone who was foolish enough to come after his sister; Sai went after what Tashikawa Ann feared most, being exposed for who she was and letting the world know (as in society and all those people she thinks are beneath her) the kind of person she is truly and not who she pretended to be.

On a side note, Sai has also unintentionally helped Ogata get rid of a very troublesome headache; Ogata was at wit's ends and did not know what else to do to be free of her. But now with her banishment from the Go world…he is finally free!

Also, this almost concludes the end of an arc, so was wondering if I should mark this story as completed and continued by publishing another one? Or should I continue the sequel all in one place…Do share your thoughts about this chapter and suggestions of the location of the next arc…


	34. Ending or beginning of a nightmare?

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

**Chapter 34: Is it the ending of a nightmare or merely the beginning?**

She couldn't quite put a finger on what was bothering her, but she had a bad feeling about it. She should be happy! Things were going better than ever; her brother was here safe and sound, his offices and the new headquarter of _Sakura Industries_ was already in business _and_ she was still winning all of her pro games.

She had also started high school and many of her classmates from last year were in the same class as hers and Akira. Plus, she gained new classmates and new teachers. In short, nothing should be bothering her but there was this nagging feeling at the back of her mind that something bad was coming and no matter what she did, she won't be able to stop it.

* * *

Bouncing on the bed like a child her brother asked, "Hey, hime-chan, are you free this weekend?"

"Why?", she asked suspiciously as she separated the clothes that fit her from the ones that didn't on her bed.

"Becaussssssssssssse…", he added as he frowned at the pile of "kept" clothes. When he moved to take another item to the discarded pile, she slapped his hand away.

"Owwww!"

"I told you, that's one of my favorite skirt's!"

"But it is sooooo short".

"It's not".

"It is".

"It's not".

"It is".

"It's not".

Pouting, "It is short. Here," he urged her to stand up and showed her that the skirt was now about two inches shorter than the last summer she wore it.

"That's weird, it does look different from the last time I wore it…" Shrugging she added, "I will just wear tights with it. And stop changing the subject. What about this weekend?"

"I can just buy you the exact same skirt, but this one will reach your knees like it was originally meant to."

"Nii-san!"

"Fine, fine. I will put this back."

In reality, she was not that attached to the skirt, but eying the growing pile of clothes her brother labeled "no longer suitable", she felt it was necessary to argue for the sake of it. She suspected that if she allowed it, he would have donated away all of her clothes. Her clothes were in good condition; nothing was torn, the shirts covered her bellybutton, most of her skirts and dresses were a decent length though she did need new pants since they were about two inches too short.

"Nii-san, concentrate, stop getting distracted. What about this weekend?"

"Hm…", he continued to add more items to the "discarded pile". "Oh, weekend… yes, right. I was wondering if you wanted to spend it with me."

"You don't have to work?"

"Nope, this weekend is all ours. We can do anything you want, though we definitely need to go shopping, many of this clothes don't properly fit you anymore."

* * *

Hikaru tried to suppress a huge yawn as she made her way to the kitchen. She had wanted to sleep just a bit more since it was a Saturday, but Sai-nii had insisted she get up saying she was going to waste the day away by being a lazy-bug; though how that was possible was beyond her, it was barely 7:00AM and noone else in the house was awake.

"There is she! Let me grab some papers for John and we will be on our way", he added as he dropped a kiss on top of her head as he moved pass her.

"Huh?", blinking she caught sight of another man sitting by the kitchen table.

"Morning. Look what I brought as a present!", he added as he shook a box of donuts.

* * *

Seven minutes later, chocolate donut and milk satisfyingly consumed, she was finally closer to waking up. John had been reading the newspaper but switched his attention back to her when he noticed she was done eating. He scooted closer, looked over at the door to make sure noone was coming, and for good measure he even lowered his voice to a whisper.

"So, Hikaru-chan, what are your top three picks of companies whose stock market will rise by the end of next week?"

He knew it was an odd way to start a conversation but it was now or never; he had already lost count of how many times he had to buy Sai lunch due to him loosing on their ongoing bi-weekly bets. He didn't mind buying lunch, but he did want to win once in a while and surprise his friend. No matter how much research John did or how much he monitored the stock market, he was still one step behind his friend.

"Huh?"

"I heard from your brother that you have a knack of predicting which companies stock will rise. So, I was wondering what your opinion…"

"Sai-nii is exaggerating. I am not as good as he…"

"No need to be so modest. I sometimes think your brother is nuts, but he doesn't exaggerate…"

At her pointed look, he corrected, "Okay, so sometimes he does exaggerate, especially when it comes to your happiness and safety, but regarding anything else he is pretty truthful. So, if you have to choose three…"

"Are you cheating?" Sai's indignant question had John almost jumping out of his seat.

Smiling sheepishly, John replied, "I wouldn't call it cheating. I was just asking Hikaru-chan her opinion about...things…"

At Sai's raised eyebrow, he went on, "Are those my papers? Good, you got them. I will just take this and be on my way. Have fun guys!"

* * *

"Your friend is funny."

"You mean weird?"

"Maybe, but then so are we…"

"True…still, remember not to give him any help."

"…I will think about it."

"Hikaruuuuuuuuuuuu!"

Laughing, she ushered him out of the house.

* * *

"Stop pouting." In response, her brother just crossed his arms and turned his head away from her. They were currently taking a break at a café and somehow the conversation had turned to her brother's love life, or _lack of_.

Well, he had started it by interrogating her about every single guy friend she had and even though he had not met many of them, he was already listing some of their faults and why none of them would be good boyfriend material. They were currently on the captain of the soccer club.

"That Hio guy, even though he is good at sports and at academics, he is still too old for you and…"

"Not Hio but _Hino-sempai_ and he is not old, though it doesn't matter since I am not interested in dating anyone right now."

"…and I am not sure he would be able to understand Go…and…."

And her brother went on and on. In an effort to stop him, and catching sight of the _looks_ many of the women on the café were throwing his way, she had switched the topic around and demanded to know when he was going to get married.

"You know, many of my friends do have older sisters or cousins around your age; I could set you up with one. So what kind of person would my future sister-in-law be like?"

"I am not…"

"Short? No, since you are tall it probably would be better for her to be tall too; that way it would not give you neck cramps when you bent down to kiss her…"

Blushing, he stammered a "Hikaru!"

"A great beauty? Not necessary…Definitely patient…But then she also has to be smart. And you probably would like her to be independent too or maybe not since you like taking care of people?"

"And she most definitely has to be nice 'cause I can't see you marrying an evil witch who would treat me like Cinderella's stepsisters treated her. If that happens, than you would divorce her, and I do want you to have a happy marriage…"

"Of course not! As if I would be blind enough marry someone like that. My Hikaru-chan is the most important…"

"…hm…I bet aunt Akiko would know many more women around your age…" At that point he had paled a bit since he knew how efficient and single-minded the woman could be.

"…why, the other day she was saying how you were at a marriageable age and…

"There is no need!"

"Are you sure? Cause I bet aunt Akiko would have tons of connections who…"

" I give up! I won't talk about boys if you don't mention anything to her…"

"But you are at a marriageable age…", not that she knew much about what was the right age to get marry, but it was fun to turn the tables on her brother.

"Hikaruuuuu…"

* * *

Bzzzzzzzzzzzz….Bzzzzzzzzzzzz….Bzzzzzzzzzzzz….

Blearing, Hikaru reached for her alarm clock but when it continued buzzing after she hit the off bottom many times, she finally leveled herself partially off the bed and squinted to see what was going on. And realized the buzzing noise was coming from her cell; she flipped it open and saw that there were a couple of text messages from her friends asking if she wanted to hang out. After replying to everyone, she realized that it was actually already 9AM and that surprisingly her brother had not bounced into her room demanding she wake up early. She remembered stumbling to her bed last night after an exhausting day spent with Sai-nii walking everywhere.

She yawned again and fifteen minutes later, she knocked on her brother's door. Wondering if for once her hyper-energetic brother had given in to exhaustion, she pushed his door open ready to scare him awake.

But frowned when she caught sight of the rumple bed, but noone in it. She took a couple of more steps into his room and caught sight of a pair of legs on the floor by the other side of the bed.

"Nii-san, what are you looking for? I can help you look…" The last part ended in a whisper when she peered over his bed and saw him lying down on the floor with his eyes closed. She wondered if he had gotten up early, set down to do some work and then inadvertently fallen sleep or maybe he just didn't like his bed?

Shrugging, and with a mischievous spark to her eyes, she jumped halfway on top of him. Instead of the expected "hmf" from him, she got no reaction at all. She frowned, and decided to switch gears by tickling him awake.

"Come on, Sai-nii. I know you are awake; there is no way you could still be sleeping."

When there was still no reaction, pouting she got up and said quite loudly, "I think Hino-sempai mentioned an extra movie ticket that he had…since I don't have any plans, I think I am going to go see that movie with him…" looking over her shoulder she added, "…and dinner."

When nothing but silence met her announcement, the small buzzing sound in her head got louder. Trying to put a stop to her rising panic, she turned back to her brother.

"Are you still mad about yesterday? Look, I won't tell aunt Akiko to set you up with anyone. In fact, if she tries to, I will definitely get in the way and ruin the dates for you. How about it?"

When there was not even a twitch on her brother's expressive face, with trembling fingers she reached out to him. She shook him lightly and then more forcefully.

"Nii-san, stop playing. This is not fun anymore…I am going to cry if you don't stop pretending…come on, I am going to get really mad at you…"

* * *

The loud thumping noise startled her a bit as she climbed the stairs to the bedrooms floor. Akiko wondered if Hikaru had fallen off the bed. Reaching the top of the stairs, a piercing shriek ran through the house. Forgetting gracefulness and manners, she rushed into Sai's bedroom and spotted Hikaru on the floor.

"…WAKE UP….WAKE UP…WAKE UP…"

"Hikaru, what's wrong? Let me see…"

Hikaru pushed her away and continued trying to wake him.

At the same time, both her son and Koyo rushed in.

"What's wrong..."

"I heard a scream…"

Grasping the situation quickly, she shouted for one of them to call 119 while she tried to calm Hikaru down.

"Honey, it is going to be okay. Your brother is breathing, come here…"

"NOOO, I WONT LET YOU TAKE HIM…NO, NO, NO"

Ten interminably long minutes later, when the ambulance finally made it, they not only had to wheel Sai out but also Hikaru. She was hysterical and fought like a wild animal, shouting and biting at anyone who got close to Sai.

Praying to heaven that everything would be alright, she got into the back of the ambulance and held Hikaru's hand while she looked worriedly at Sai's pale face.

* * *

**A/N:** Everyone is so sweet; thank you for all your reviews and encouragements! I am glad that everyone likes this story.

It was so hard writing this chapter_, _for so many reasons. It started on a lighthearted note, but then no matter how much I didn't want to, I had to do it; the repercussion from Sai's earlier accident. I tried dropping hints here and there before this chapter (mainly Sai's headaches).

From the very beginning of the story, I saw Sai ending this way one way or another but don't worried; I won't end it all here. This is the last chapter of _A New Beginning_ and its sequel is titled, _Finding a Path_. The sequel is not uploaded yet, but when it is, I will come back and post the link here and then mark this story as "completed."

In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts and feelings.


	35. Link to sequel

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

Hi all,

As promised, sequel is out, "Finding a Path". Link is in my profile page and here too .net/s/7810464/1/Finding_a_Path

No words can explain my feelings, but I will try anyways, "Thank You!" so much for all your support and caring. And I hope to hear back from everyone about this sequel too.


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